The Cupertino Courier

News

Large, new Whole Foods store to open on schedule on July 18

By Cody Kraatz

The new Cupertino Whole Foods Market is set to open July 18 and will be the chain's largest store in the Western United States when it does.

The design and location, on Stevens Creek Boulevard near Stelling Road, is meant to invite passersby in for coffee, lunch or dinner, and to connect the inside and outside dining areas.

"Even though it's such a large store, it makes it just a neighborhood coffee shop because you can just walk in," said Scott Sherman, manager of the existing Cupertino store. The new store will require 100 more employees than the 250 at the current store.

The store will have a large covered outdoor produce area and more produce and cut fruit inside. And because it has a much larger parking lot, the new store could potentially host a farmers market.

"This store specifically would be a great space for that. I could see a farmers market out here in our future," said Anthony Gilmore, Northern California regional president.

Gilmore came to the Cupertino store on May 10 to talk about four new stores that were announced the day before and explained the company's location selection process.

"Our decisions for location are based on demographics, and our number one hurdle is population density," he said.

The other two major considerations are "education density" and "psychographic compatibility." He explained that a more educated community correlates with more interest in the high-quality and organic products Whole Foods sells.

He added that the exact location of the new Cupertino store was selected for its visibility.

"We want to be in the busiest part of town," said Gilmore, who started with Whole Foods in 1996 after 20 years with Safeway, where he managed a Santa Clara store, among others. He has moved up in the Whole Foods ranks after overseeing successful store openings and regional expansions.

Sherman noted such design flourishes as an indoor and an outdoor pond that mirror each other on either side of glass windows in the store's dining area by the Stevens Creek Boulevard sidewalk.

The company has found it competes directly with such conventional grocery stores as Safeway and Albertsons as well as upscale stores, such as PW Market. The company now has 20 new stores in development, including two in San Jose.

Whole Foods is currently open at 20830 Stevens Creek Blvd. For more information, call 408.257.7000 or go to www.wholefoods.com/stores/cupertino.