is an
Austin ,
Texas –based natural foods
Grocer , which,
As Of October 2005 , consisted of 178 locations in the
United States ,
Canada , and
Great Britain . Its
CEO is
John Mackey .
Whole Foods is widely known throughout the United States for its high quality natural food products, many of which qualify as
Certified Organic .
Whole Foods is currently in the midst of an international expansion; in 2004 the company purchased a chain of seven natural food stores in the
United Kingdom called
Fresh & Wild .
Whole Foods joined the ranks of the
Fortune 500 in 2005, entering the list for the first time at position 479.
The high cost of many Whole Foods products has led some cynical shoppers to refer to it as "Whole Paycheck."
,
Texas . March 2005.]]
Along with other grocery retailers such as upheld the actions of Whole Foods at the Madison store , although many workers considered their tactics illegal and unethical. Further attempts at unionizing Whole Foods Market stores have been unsuccessful
{Link without Title} .
For nine consecutive years, the company has ranked favorably on ''
Fortune '' magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list, most recently at number 15 in 2006 [http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/pr_01-09-06.html]. Among its core values, the company lists "supporting team member happiness and excellence" [http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/corevalues.html]. The company argues that its treatment of workers removes the needs for unions.
at the main Whole Foods in
Austin, Texas ]]
''Source: Whole Foods''
1978: John Mackey opens SaferWay in
Austin ,
Texas (the name being a spoof of
Safeway which operated stores in Austin at that time).
1980: SaferWay merges with an Austin natural grocery store to open as Whole Foods Market with a staff of 19.
1984: Expands outside of
Austin with store in
Houston .
1988: Expands outside of
Texas with purchase of Whole Foods Company in
New Orleans .
1991: Acquires Wellspring Grocery of
North Carolina .
1992: Company goes public and is traded on the
Nasdaq Stock Market ; purchases Bread & Circus in
Massachusetts and
Rhode Island .
1993: Acquires Mrs. Gooch's Natural Foods Markets in Los Angeles.
1995: Purchases the Northern California Bread of Life stores in the San Francisco Bay area.
1996: Purchases Fresh Fields on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
1997: Adds Florida Bread of Life stores; adds Whole Foods Market's 365 Everyday Value product line; purchases Allegro Coffee Company; acquires Merchant of Vino stores in the Detroit area.
1999: Acquires Nature's Heartland of Boston; opens 100th store in Torrence, Calif.
2000: Acquires Food 4 Thought Natural Food Market & Deli in Northern
California .
in
New York City ]]
2001: Opens first store in
Manhattan ; acquires three
Harry's Farmers Market stores in
Atlanta .
2002: Opens first location outside the United States in Canada (Toronto, Ontario); Whole Foods added to the NASDAQ-100 Index. Store in
Madison Wisconsin unionizes.
2003: Becomes United States' first national "certified organic" grocer; acquires Select Fish of Seattle and opens seafood processing plant in Atlanta, Ga.
2004: Acquires seven
Fresh & Wild stores in the United Kingdom.
2004: Whole Foods Market Madison no longer union after NLRB ruling
2005: Opens new world headquarters in Austin.
]]
