Whole Foods Market Inc. (Austin, Texas) has announced a 14.1 percent increase in same-store sales for its third quarter ended July 4, 2004. Total sales gained 22 percent and net income increased 15 percent.
The natural foods retailer’s biggest gains were among its 17 stores open less than two years, those that average 36,000 square feet. They gained 25.9 percent in sales during the quarter. The 64 stores more than eight years old (average size, 28,100 square feet), gained 12 percent; and stores between five and eight years old (average size, 31,700 square feet), gained 11.7 percent.
“We are experiencing one of the best years in our company’s history,” said ceo, president, chairman and co-founder John Mackey. “Our comparable stores are producing record sales increases of 15.2 percent year to date, and our new stores continue to open above our expectations, producing $595,000 in average weekly sales. We believe our strong results are due in part to the growing equity of the Whole Foods Market brand and demonstrate the tremendous growth opportunities that lie ahead for our company.”
The company also announced the recent signing of eight new store leases, in Redmond, Wash.; New York; Henderson, Nev.; Charlotte, N.C.; Cranston, R.I.; Woburn, Mass.; Manhattan Beach, Calif.; and Austin, Texas. It now has 2.351 million total square footage under development.