Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market, Inc. was the brainchild of four local business people who decided they wanted to introduce a supermarket format to the natural and organic foods industry. Founder John Mackey (currently the Whole Foods Markets, Inc. CEO) and Renee Lawson Hardy merged their own Safer Way Natural Foods store with Clarksville Natural Grocery, owned by Craig Weller and Mark Skiles. The original Whole Foods Market opened with a staff of only 19 people and was an immediate success. Now, Whole Foods Markets, Inc. has acquired a number of notable natural foods businesses and has grown throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Read on and see some of Whole Food’s most notable acquisitions of the past 34 years.
5. Fresh Fields
One of the later acquisitions by Whole Foods Inc., or what they call the “second generation of natural food supermarket companies,” Fresh Fields opened its first store in 1991 in Rockville, Maryland. After a slew of successful years, Fresh Fields had 22 stores open in four major east coast market areas by the time of the merger in 1996.
4. Bread & Circus
The original Bread & Circus, bought by Anthony and Susan Harnett in 1975, sold natural foods and wooden toys. Over the years, Bread and Circus expanded across the state of Massachusetts and even into Providence, Rhode Island in 1990. By the time of the acquisition in 1992, Bread & Circus was the largest natural food retailer in the Northeast.
3. Wild Oats Markets
Founded in 1987 by Michael Gilliland and Elizabeth Cook in Boulder, Colorado, the Wild Oats founders relied on the knowledge of staff and the surrounding areas to help turn their store into a thriving national business. It worked, and by the time of the 2007 acquisition, Wild Oats was operating 109 stores in 23 states and British Columbia, Canada.
2. Nature’s Heartland
Nature’s Heartland opened its first store in Bedford, Massachusetts in 1996 and quickly grew throughout the Boston area. What set Nature’s Heartland apart was its conventional grocery store background, meaning they not only sold natural food, but other retail items such as school supplies and toiletries. The chain joined Whole Foods in 1999.
1. Fresh & Wild
Founded by Hass Hassan in 1998, U.K.-based Fresh & Wild got its start after Hassan acquired the long established City Health Store in London, England. Six more stores opened throughout London and Bristol, rapidly gaining recognition and winning a number of awards. The seven stores, including a central kitchen and warehouse, joined Whole Foods in 2004.
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