Rochester, N.Y. (April 12, 2023) – Whole Foods Market opened a new 50,000-square-foot store, located at 2740 Monroe Avenue on April 12 at 7 a.m. EST. The location in the town of Brighton is the first store in Rochester, N.Y., for the global natural and organic foods retailer.
“We’re thrilled to open our doors to the local community as we enter the city of Rochester for the first time,” said Nicole Davia, Whole Foods Market’s Regional President for the Northeast Region. “Through our knowledgeable team members, high quality standards and hand-picked selection of local to Western and Central New York products, we look forward to serving our new neighbors and introducing them to a shopping experience unlike anywhere else!”
The store features more than 500 local items from Central and Western New York, sourced with the help of John Lawson, Local Forager for Whole Foods Market’s Northeast Region. During the opening day ceremonies, the grocer announced that local egg supplier Oliver’s Organic Eggs is the newest recipient of a low-interest loan from Whole Foods Market’s Local Producer Loan Program (LPLP), which lends money to small-scale, local or emerging producers across the U.S. and Canada to help them grow their businesses. Oliver’s Organic Eggs will use their $65,000 low-interest loan to build a new hen house, supporting their growth and the added volume from the newest Whole Foods Market location. To date, LPLP has provided over 365 loans, representing roughly $28 million in capital for its recipients.
Features of the Rochester store include:
- Mid-century modern design that leans into Rochester’s rich history as an epicenter for photography. This includes an enlarged film strip over the Specialty Department featuring local landmarks as a nod to Kodak.
- An array of organic, conventional and Sourced for Good produce, with an in-house Veggie Butcher cutting fruits and vegetables to order. Offerings from more than a dozen local farms, including greens from Agbotic Farms, tomatoes from Intergrow, beets from Stick and Stone Farm, and apples from Hudson River Fruit.
- Specialty department dedicated to celebrating cheesemakers and artisan producers. Featuring fresh pastas from Severino Pasta and local items including Lumberjack Bucheron from Old Chatham Creamery and cheese curds from Family Farmstead Dairy. The cheese counter is overseen by trained cheesemongers who can offer recommendations for any occasion and create custom boards.
- Curated grocery section filled with favorites from the grocer’s private label 365 by Whole Foods Market and local products including coffee from Joe Bean and Bold & Gritty, sauces from Rubino’s Italian Foods, pastas from Bozza’s, kombucha from Katboocha, and eggs from Oliver’s Organic Eggs.
- Full-service seafood counter featuring made-in-house seafood cakes and burgers, ready-to-cook meals, and expert fishmongers ready to cut and fillet any order. All seafood department offerings are either sustainable, wild-caught or Responsibly Farmed.
- Full-service meat counter with craftsman butchers available to cut steaks to order or debone poultry. Features include made-in-house dry aged beef, sausages and ground beef. Local options include sausage from Bilinski’s and pork from Briar Wood Farms.
- Extensive selection of more than 200 craft beers. Local options include Swiftwater Brewing, Fifth Frame Brewing Co. and Strangebird.
- Prepared Foods section that includes a hot food bar, salad bar, soup station, made-in-house rotisserie chicken, fresh hot pizza, sushi by Kikka, and prepacked salads and sandwiches to-go. The store will also include Za’atar, a Mediterranean-inspired Whole Foods Market venue, featuring fresh salads and grain bowls.
- Bakery department offering made-in-house bread as well as spring seasonal favorites, such as Whole Foods Market’s Mango Yuzu Chantilly cake, strawberry rhubarb pie and raspberry rhubarb scones. The department also carries a wide variety of special diet items and has partnered with hyper-local bakery, Village Bakery, to provide baguettes, sourdough, table batard and more.
- Whole Body section featuring a large selection of seasonal and experiential bath offerings. All beauty and body care products in store meet Whole Foods Market’s high quality standards which ban more than 180 ingredients.
On opening day, Whole Foods Market Rochester will be open from 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. EST. The store’s regular hours will be 8 a.m. – 9 p.m. EST daily following the opening. Customers who stop by the Rochester store on opening day can enjoy giveaways, free samples, and music. The first 500 shoppers in line receive a Whole Foods Market tote bag and scratch-and-win Whole Foods Market gift cards. Customers can find more details on opening day events by visiting: https://rocgrandopening2023.splashthat.com/.
All food at Whole Foods Market must meet the company’s rigorous Quality Standards, which prohibit hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup and more than 230 flavors, colors, sweeteners and other ingredients commonly found in food. In addition, all beauty and body care products must meet the company’s body care standards, which ban more than 180 commonly used ingredients, including phthalates, parabens and microbeads.
To give back to the community, Whole Foods Market’s Nourishing our Neighborhoods program will donate a refrigerated van to Open Door Mission, allowing the non-profit to transport both perishable and nonperishable food to communities in need. Additionally, donations have been made to food rescue organizations Foodlink and Flower City Pickers, as well as The Commissary, Rochester’s only shared commercial kitchen and food business incubator.
Amazon Prime members who shop at Whole Foods Market have access to a number of benefits year-round, including deep discounts on select popular products each week and an additional 10% off hundreds of in-store sale items. Grocery pickup is available at Whole Foods Market Rochester. For more information and hours of operation, please visit wholefoods.com/stores/Rochester.
About Whole Foods Market
For more than 40 years, Whole Foods Market has been the world’s leading natural and organic foods retailer. As the first certified organic national grocer, Whole Foods Market has more than 500 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. To learn more about Whole Foods Market, please visit https://wmn-live.frb.io/.
