Organic Growth

Whole Foods sets opening date for first low-price supermarket in Austin area

Whole Foods’ first 365 store in Texas is scheduled to open April 26 in Cedar Park.

Photo courtesy of Whole Foods

Mark your calendars: Whole Foods’ first 365 store in Texas is scheduled to open April 26 in Cedar Park.

The Cedar Park store, along the U.S. Highway 183A toll road near New Hope Drive, will be the fourth location in the 365 chain, a lower-price concept designed to appeal to younger shoppers and to help shed Whole Foods’ “Whole Paycheck” reputation.

Two Austin companies, Easy Tiger and JuiceLand, will be featured in the Cedar Park store through the Friends of 365 program. Easy Tiger will offer its full menu, including beer, wine, coffee, and baked goods, and JuiceLand will serve snacks, juices, and smoothies.

John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Austin-based Whole Foods, says the Cedar Park store will be a “2.0” version of existing 365 stores. “It’s going to have all these new bells and whistles that we’ve learned from our first three stores,” Mackey says.

The three existing 365 stores opened last year in Bellevue, Washington, a Seattle suburb; Lake Oswego, Oregon, a Portland suburb; and the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

What will be different about the 365 store in Cedar Park? One change will be a broader mix of products, says David Lannon, executive vice president of operations at Whole Foods. For instance, shoppers will find more bulk goods, and more vitamins and body care products, Lannon says.

Lannon promises that with the Cedar Park store, along with stores set to open later this year in Santa Monica, California, and Akron, Ohio, “you’re going to see a lot of improvements” compared with the three current locations. “It’s in the DNA of Whole Foods to really innovate,” Lannon says.

Whole Foods is proceeding slowly with expanding the 365 concept; as many as 10 stores are on tap to open this year. Whole Foods hasn’t said when it might open a 365 store in Austin.

“We remain optimistic about the future growth potential for our 365 format,” Mackey says, “but want to see how this next round of stores perform before getting more aggressive.”

Whole Foods rolled out the 365 concept last May with the debut of the Los Angeles store.

“From the food offerings to the store’s design, we’ve built a foundation on the quality standards you’ve come to expect from Whole Foods Market in a fun new format that’s easy to navigate and focused on value in every department,” Jeff Turnas, president of the 365 chain, said when the L.A. store opened.

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Hit the Road

Austin City Council passes resolution over MoPac expansion concerns

Photo courtesy of KVUE

The City Council has taken issue with some environmental concerns and planning that may be outdated.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) has been looking to make improvements on MoPac Expressway South from Cesar Chavez Street to Slaughter Lane to try to improve traffic. It is looking to add up to four express toll lanes.

But the Austin City Council recently passed a resolution over its concerns with the project.

“[The resolution] tells the city manager to work with the CTRMA on the MoPac South Project. When you see state money being spent on projects that affect the local community, we want to make sure we are holding the highest standard possible," Councilmember Paige Ellis said.

Some of the concerns listed in the resolution include that it's been more than 11 years since CTRMA held its original scoping meeting; that the Recommended Build Alternative has not changed substantially since 2015; and that fine particulate matter in the air in Travis County already exceeds healthy metrics; plus others.

Ellis said she has some environmental concerns.

"The environment is protected for species like the golden cheeked warbler and salamanders, so we want to make we are sure limiting impervious cover," Ellis said.

The CTRMA said its environmental study evaluates potential harms and mitigations to things like water quality and endangered species. The CTRMA added that it has "worked extensively with the city of Austin throughout the study."

Read the full story, including information on how to submit feedback, and watch the video at KVUE.com. CultureMap has added a paragraph to this excerpt listing some details from the City Council document.