Whole Foods has made some changes to its merchandising and operations, team member services, and technology teams in order to improve support for its stores and distribution centers, according to the retailer. The grocer said that these changes will not impact any store or distribution center-based roles.
In a letter to employees, Whole Foods explained that it is merging its global and regional merchandising teams into a single team that will support purchasing across the entire company, and dedicated operations teams in the regions will focus on merchandising execution and in-store operations. The retailer is also creating new leadership roles focused on local products and supplier relationships.
In addition, Whole Foods is realigning its team member services organization to provide more consistent, strategic support across all regions in key areas such as recruiting, training, compensation and benefits, and career development, it said.
The technology team will transition to focus more on skills required for software engineering and technical product and program manager roles.
“This shift will allow us to build new internal capabilities, further differentiate our customer offerings, and rapidly develop tools for our business and customers at the speed of retail,” said the letter.
In 2020, Whole Foods introduced 950 local brands and more than 10,000 local items. In addition, the grocer tripled its online sales between March and December 2020, as compared to the same timeframe in 2019.
The retailer now has more than 105,000 employees, with about 10,000 open positions currently posted companywide.
Related: Whole Foods Debuts Locally-Focused Wyoming Store; Whole Foods Supports Responsible Sourcing.
Image: Whole Foods