Whole Foods Expanding in Minneapolis

Whole Foods Market Inc. (Austin, Texas) has opened a new store in Maple Grove, Minn., part of an expansion plan in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which is part of a national expansion program.

A retail analyst told The Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the food retailer has set a national goal of 1000 stores over the next decade, which almost triple the current size of the chain. The pace of expansion would involve building out at least 30 new stores a year.

With the new 37,000-square-foot Maple Grove store, plus one expected in downtown Minneapolis in the fall, Whole Foods would have six stores in the Twin Cities. The downtown stores is planned as the ground-floor retail anchor for a $70 million downtown complex called 222 Hennepin, which will also include luxury apartments.

Whole Foods first opened a store in St. Paul in 1995, then one in Minneapolis in 1999. But it took 12 years until the retailer opened stores in Minnetonka and Edina.