Whole Foods Market Announces 38 to 42 New Stores and Renewed Produce Push
AUSTIN, TX – Whole Foods Market has announced 38 to 42 new stores, including five to six relocations, in its newly released financial report for Q1 2015.
Other notable FY 2015 targets include:
- Sales growth over 9%
- Comparable store sales growth in the low to middle single digits
- EBITDA margin of approximately 9%
- ROIC greater than 14%
Aside from these fiscal 2015 plans, the retailer is also focusing on the success of its lower produce pricing program. Walter Robb, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Whole Foods Market, spoke about the company’s pricing and its newest labeling initiatives in Whole Foods' investor conference call.
“We continue to see unit lift from the lower produce pricing we are testing in several markets, which included external marketing to support these investments,” said Robb. “It is too early for conclusive results, particularly given the holidays. However, we're looking at expanding the test to additional markets as we believe more competitive produce pricing will greatly benefit our overall value perception.”
These predictions come along with Whole Food’s record Q1 sales and EPS. The retailers reported record sales of $4.7 billion, a 10% increase over the prior year. It also saw comparable store sales growth of 4.5%.
“We are pleased with our first quarter results which reflect accelerating comparable store sales growth and healthy returns. We attribute our broad-based sales momentum to our customers’ positive response to our many strategic initiatives, along with improving consumer confidence,” added Robb.
Other Q1 2015 highlights included:
- Average weekly sales per store of $724,000, meaning sales per gross square foot of $990
- Nine new store openings, translating to 9.4% ending square footage growth
- EBITDA of $396 million, or 8.5% of sales
- Diluted earnings per share of $0.46, a 10% increase over the prior year
The company was able to end the quarter with total cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and investments of approximately $1.0 billion.
Whole Foods currently has 408 stores totaling nearly 16 million square feet and expects to cross the 500-store mark in fiscal year 2017. Looking further into the future, the company sees demand for 1,200 Whole Foods Market stores in the United States.
To continue to drive sales growth over the long term, Whole Foods is planning to continue its value strategy and make additional investment in areas like technology, marketing, and new and existing stores.
With aggressive growth plans like these, we will continue to watch for what markets this retailer might enter next. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for the latest updates.
