Whole Foods Market, the upscale purveyor of organic and local food, is opening a new store in economically struggling Detroit June 5 as part of its repositioning as a go-to grocery store for everyday staples for shoppers on any budget.
The chain will launch pilot stores in Detroit, New Orleans and on Chicago's South Side in 2013 and 2014 that feature fewer staffers, lower prices, and more frozen and prewrapped food, said Whole Foods co-CEO John Mackey. "For every penny we cut off the price, we reach more people who can afford to shop with us," he said.
In anticipation of the Detroit store opening, the company has been offering classes in community centers about how to shop frugally at its store, focusing, naturally, on Whole Foods' own 365 private label line. Anne Howe of Anne Howe Associates, a shopper marketing consulting firm, commended the chain for going into so-called food deserts like parts of Detroit and New Orleans. "They are trying to serve the needs of communities that others ignore completely," she said.
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