Whole Foods Announces Hell’s Kitchen Mini-Store at 20th Anniversary Celebration

After years of community calls for a more affordable grocery store, Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market announced on Monday at Nasdaq’s Opening Bell that they are coming to Hell’s Kitchen.

The new store will open at 301 W50th Street, on the corner of 8th Avenue, taking the place of the Rite Aid that closed back in February 2022. This will be the second of three planned Whole Foods Market Daily Shop grocery stores in New York City.

First announced in March, the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop will feature a variety of fresh produce, prepared foods and essential grocery items. While typical full size locations average at about 40,000 square feet, the new small format shops will range between 7,000 to 14,000 square feet. This store was marketed as just over 8,700 square feet .

Also featured in the new shop will be Juice & Java, an in-house cafe that will offer coffee, tea, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, soups and desserts.

Full size Whole Foods Markets can be found at opposite ends of Hell’s Kitchen, at Columbus Circle and Hudson Yards. Between those stores, residents must contend with Food Emporium, Gristedes and D’Agostino’s — all of which are known for having high prices and being in a general state of disrepair. There’s almost always a bucket catching ceiling drips in one of these locations.

So is Whole Foods an affordable store (say compared to Trader Joe’s)? In October last year, Penny Hoarder asked just that question . Trader Joe’s is generally cheaper for basic items, but Whole Foods offers more specialty products and a better shopping experience. Both stores have money-saving strategies. Tipping the scales towards Whole Foods is the additional 10% off on most items for Amazon Prime members.

The first Whole Foods Market Daily Shop location was announced earlier this year for the Upper East Side at 1175 Third Avenue and is set to open in the fall. It is unclear when the Hell’s Kitchen location will open or where the third shop will be.

In February 2022, Councilmember Erik Bottcher launched a campaign to woo Trader Joe’s to the neighborhood entitled “Be Our Valentine, Trader Joe’s”. At the time, resident Anne Davis, organizer of the neighborhood Facebook group “We Need a Trader Joe’s or Aldi in Hell’s Kitchen,” said “everybody here wants it, but not everyone knows how to get it to happen.”

While Bottcher was in touch with a regional manager at TJ’s, the campaign has so far not produced any results.

The post Whole Foods Announces Hell’s Kitchen Mini-Store at 20th Anniversary Celebration appeared first on W42ST .