Amazon-owned grocer Whole Foods Market was set to open a new store in London in March after a decade-long hiatus in the UK.
The retailer, which sells a range of produce including Doughlicious cookies, Butter Bike peanut butter and The Root Co. ginger beer, announced plans for a 21,000 sq ft premises on the King’s Road in Chelsea.
The store was expected to open on 25th March, becoming Whole Foods Market’s first new UK store for 10 years and taking its tally to six, all in the capital.
In a publicity drive showcasing the retailer’s renewed interest in this country, the first 200 customers at the Chelsea outlet were promised tote bags filled with goodies and a voucher.
Whole Foods Market stressed the purity of its products, saying it had banned more than 300 colours, flavours, preservatives and other ingredients from its shelves.
It said the new store would feature a coffee bar, a soup bar, a hot bar, a salad bar, rotisserie chicken and a “full-service deli”.
The retailer pledged to offer a “wide variety” of international and local cheeses as well as more than 350 types of wine.
Its bread is to be baked daily, it added, and it will also stock gluten-free and vegan produce.
Nick Miles, director of retail analysis at consultancy IGD, said: “Since acquiring Whole Foods in 2017, Amazon has focused on improving efficiency rather than opening new stores.
“In the UK, Whole Foods [already] operates five stores in London, catering to the demand for natural, healthy and organic products. The retailer has signalled plans to open more stores, however it is unclear whether this will be in the UK or its other markets.
“Given that Whole Foods has not opened stores outside of the UK capital to date, we would expect any new store developments to be focused in London.”
IGD said the retailer’s tally of shops had been relatively flat across the UK, the US and Canada over the past eight years.
But it highlighted talk of 90 new outlets being in the firm’s global pipeline.
The consultancy added that Amazon had bolstered its leadership team with grocery experts and started experimenting more with new formats.
Whole Foods Market’s first smaller-style store opened in New York last year. This 9,101 sq ft Whole Foods Market Daily Shop was touted as bringing the “freshest, high-quality ingredients” to customers with “convenience that fits their fast-paced urban lifestyles”.
This article first appeared in the April 2025 issue of Fine Food Digest.
