Whole Foods powers up in Angel

Ahead of the opening today (April 2) the latest convenience sized Whole Foods store Retail Insider took a look around to see what the retailer is bringing to the North London area of Angel.

Back in the 1930s the structure was an Islington electricity sub-station and despite having housed restaurants – notably Lola’s that this writer frequented often – and latterly an Amazon Fresh store it still retains original tiling, exposed brickwork, and iron supports

At a modest 4,000 sq ft the store outstrips the chain’s smallest 2,500 sq ft unit at Liverpool Street but sits well below the likes of the 24,000 sq ft of The King’s Road unit and is a fraction of the size of the original behemoth on Kensington High Street.

However, it still houses approaching 9,000 SKUs versus the 10,000-12,000 SKUs at the King’s Road unit. According to Jade Hoai, executive leader of operations at Whole Foods Market, the removal of counters including the fresh butchery, cheese and fish counters found in the larger outlets frees up space in the convenience stores.

“When you have bustling areas, like Angel, with workers and residents, then this is the right assortment for them,” says Hoai, who highlights that popular categories include salty snacks, confectionery, and BWS (beers, wines and spirits) with a number of exclusives among the ranges to cater for the local market. Some goods are produced within the local area such as Good Phats.

“We like working with start-ups and challenger brands. They are much more easily able to launch themselves into 12 stores [the Whole Foods portfolio],” says Hoai.

There is also a healthy private label range in the Angel store that is reflected in all Whole Foods outlets regardless of size and Hoai says the product selection will grow. She also reinforced the point that many of the products are premium priced but that this simply reflects the quality and cost of production to farmers and growers.

The Angel launch is among the six convenience store openings scheduled for completion by the end of June, which includes five conversions of former Amazon Fresh stores plus one new unit in St James’. A further three more convenience-size stores are planned for 2027.

Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider