Today, Whole Foods Market opened its two-floor, 51,156-square-foot store in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“We’re thrilled to open our first Whole Foods Market store in Jersey City,” said Nicole Davia, SVP of operations for Whole Foods Market, in a statement. “Jersey City is already home to one of our store support offices, and we know our neighbors and many community members have been anxiously awaiting this opening.”
The product assortment includes more than 1,000 local items from the Northeast, sourced with the help of senior local forager John Lawson.
The location's grocery assortment is on the first floor and the second floor is devoted to expansive cafe seating.
The store features organic, Sourced for Good produce, a specialty department with various cheeses and specialty products, full-service meat and seafood counters, and a bakery replete with special diet items. The back of the store houses the traditional center store selection and foods include up-and-coming and local brands in addition to previous Whole Foods' Local and Emerging Accelerator Program participants like CHKP Foods, a dairy-free yogurt.
The store's prepared foods section includes fresh sushi from Kikka, self-serve hot and salad bars, rotisserie chicken, self-serve pizza, and a chef’s case where customers can order “market plates” choosing from a variety of entrée and side options. As with other urban Whole Foods stores, like the FiDi location that opened earlier this year, the entrance's proximity to the prepared foods may be intended to serve commuters.
“The main entrance opens into a grab-and-go food hall with ready-to-eat meals that have been popular with the surrounding community for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks between commutes,” Steffen Jendrusch, FiDi Whole Foods team leader, told SFA News Daily when discussing the NYC location. The Jersey City store has a similar layout.
To give back to the community, the grocer will donate a refrigerated van to nourish.NJ through Whole Foods Market’s Nourishing Our Neighborhoods program, which was created to expand the capacity and capability of community-based food rescue organizations.
SFA News Daily spoke to Lawson in advance of the opening.
What products or innovations are you most excited to share at the new location?
In addition to all the products in the store we already carry that meet our industry-leading quality standards, we have a couple of New Jersey-specific suppliers I am particularly excited about. First is a new, limited-run Sun Noodle Ramen made in collaboration with Fly By Jing. Sun Noodle is already well known to our customers for the best fresh ramen anywhere, and you can’t beat the collab with Fly by Jing who makes some of the best authentic Asian sauces. I can’t wait for Jersey City customers to try this!
We will also be launching a new variety of Oishii Strawberries, the Koyo, joining the Omakase variety which we’ve been selling for a little over a year now.
What makes this location unique?
Jersey City is an exciting area for us to open. Right across the river from NYC, it is a young, booming, and dynamic community in its own right that is well represented by much excellent food energy. I know our new neighbors are eagerly anticipating this Whole Foods Market and our store will fit right in and meet their needs with our wide selection of quality, healthy, and foodie-focused assortment across all the departments. One thing I’m particularly excited about is the fresh pasta bar from Severino Pasta Company.
What types of consumers are expected to shop at the location (e.g. families, working professionals, etc.) and is there anything Whole Foods is offering to cater to the community?
From my experience in this neighborhood, I think we are going to see a wide range of customers, and we are excited that we have designed a store that should meet all customers’ needs and then some.
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