WHOLE FOODS opening flagship

Real Estate Weekly, March 12, 2003

WHOLE FOODS Markets, the world's largest natural and organic foods supermarket company, announces the opening of a new flagship store in the landmark Columbus Circle development. The 60,000-SF store will be located on concourse level one within The Shops at Columbus Circle.

"WHOLE FOODS is clearly the nations' leader in quality food retailing. The store will be a wonderful compliment to the world class restaurants and shops that will be located at AOL Time Warner Center," said Stephen M. Ross, chairman and CEO of The Related Companies, one of the development partners.

The Columbus Circle store will offer a 250-seat eating area, highly unusual for a grocery store. In addition to the unusually large eat-in space for customers to enjoy the supermarket's fresh and extensive selection of chef-prepared meals, the store will also feature artisan baked goods made from scratch, a wine store, tempting meats free of added hormones and antibiotics, and fresh seafood shipped daily from the company's Pigeon Cove facility in Gloucester, Mass. The store will appeal to a variety of customers ranging from health conscious households to serious gourmets at heart.

"We are excited that WHOLE FOODS will locate within The Shops at Columbus Circle. The natural and organic market will offer the upper West Side of Manhattan an unparalleled selection of quality foods and become the destination location for all New Yorkers who seek the freshest and finest food products," said Kenneth A. Himmel, president and CEO of Related Urban Development.

"We knew that a quality space was important to provide an atypical grocery shopping experience in Manhattan. The AOL Time Warner Center offers great space for Whole Foods Market to develop an innovative as well as comfortable shopping experience for New Yorkers on the West Side at this new landmark location," said John Mackay, CEO of Whole Foods Markets.