Whole Foods Market Brings Daily Shop Concept to 2 More NYC Neighborhoods
Whole Foods Market has released the opening dates for two more of its smaller-format stores in New York City.
Dubbed Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, the new store format is designed to provide customers in urban neighborhoods a quick, convenient shopping experience with easier access to the fresh, elevated offerings they expect from Whole Foods Market, according to the company. The first Daily Shop opened in September 2024 in the Lenox Hill neighborhood on New York City’s Upper East Side.
Now Whole Foods is getting ready to debut its second and third Daily Shop stores, also in New York City. First, a 10,000-square-foot store located at 409 East 14th Street in the East Village’s StuyTown development will open at 8:00 a.m. on May 14. Next, a 8,500-square-foot store located at 301 West 50th Street in Hell’s Kitchen will open at 8:00 a.m. on June 4.
Both locations are designed to bring the freshest high-quality ingredients to customers with a convenience that fits their fast-paced urban lifestyles. Both stores will include more than 400 local products from 100-plus Northeast-based suppliers, various prepared foods, new seasonal bakery items and artisanal cheeses.
The StuyTown location will include a Juice & Java venue, offering coffee, tea, juices, smoothies, sandwiches and various desserts.
On opening morning at both locations, customers can enjoy complimentary coffee and breakfast bites, and the first 300 customers in line will also receive a limited-edition tote bag.
The Daily Shop stores are about a quarter to half the footprint of an average 40,000- square-foot Whole Foods store, paving the way for expansion in dense metropolitan areas. While Whole Foods is currently focused on opening its small-concept stores in New York City, it intends to bring the format to cities across the country.
"Daily Shop is going to make our products and our stores more available to people," said Christina Minardi, EVP growth and development for Whole Foods Market and Amazon, in an interview with Progressive Grocer’s Gina Acosta. "We really see this concept as a store that will appeal to our Whole Foods shoppers, our loyal Whole Foods shoppers, and then open us up to other shoppers that don't traditionally shop Whole Foods all the time, because it's all about a convenience play with this store."
These convenient options include everything from grab-and-go meals and snacks to weekly essentials and a quick, easy destination to pick up ingredients to complete a meal – with all items meeting the company’s rigorous quality standards. The Daily Shop stores also offer self-checkout and staffed checkout.
Design company Schweitzer and its sister agency Interstore are overseeing both the development of the store concept and the fit out of the actual markets.
Part of Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods serves customers in more than 530 stores across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Parent company Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Both Whole Foods and Amazon were named among PG’s Retailers of the Century and the Most Sustainable Grocers.
