Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market Inc. (Austin, Texas) reported a 22 percent sales increase for its first quarter ended Jan. 16, 2005. The company said the increase was driven by 15 percent weighted average year-over-year square footage growth and same-store sales growth of 11.4 percent.

Same-store sales increases were greatest (17.1 percent) in the eight stores opened less than two years. These stores, averaging 39,000 square feet, are also the chain’s largest.

“We are very pleased with our performance this quarter, particularly in light of our difficult year-over-year comparisons,” said chairman, ceo and co-founder John Mackey. “However, as we have previously stated, we do not expect to see this same level of year over year increases in sales and earnings to continue throughout the year. We continue to expect comparable store sales increases for the year of 8 percent to 10 percent and for diluted earnings per share growth to be lower than sales growth primarily due to the anticipated acceleration in new store openings.”

Capital expenditures in the quarter were $85 million, of which $56 million was for new-store development. In the quarter, the company opened three new stores: in Hingham, Mass.; Redwood City, Calif.; and Sarasota, Fla., ending the quarter with 166 stores totaling approximately 5.3 million square feet. It also has 58 new stores in development, averaging 50,000 square feet.