AUSTIN, TX - Ding ding! The bell is ringing! Or rather, it has already been rung. Whole Foods Market Chief Executive Officer Jason Buechel rang the Nasdaq opening bell this week alongside 70 Team Members to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first New York City flagship store.

“Today, we’re not just reflecting on our impact in New York City over the past two decades. We’re also looking forward to an exciting future of continuing growth in a city that has embraced Whole Foods Market with such enthusiasm,” said Buechel. “It made perfect sense for us to launch a new store format right here. Whole Foods Market Daily Shop will conveniently bring our high-quality natural and organic food to even more New York City customers.”

According to a press release, the 2004 opening of the Columbus Circle flagship store marked a major step in the company’s expansion in New York and transformed the city’s grocery offerings with high-quality natural and organic foods. Since then, Whole Foods Market has grown in the New York City area to 17 locations and more than 5,000 local Team Members.

“The opening of the Whole Foods Market Columbus Circle store was, in my opinion, one of the most important openings in the history of our company,” said Christina Minardi, Executive Vice President of Growth and Development at Whole Foods Market and Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores. “It made a huge impact on our future growth, and the excitement I felt at that opening is very much what I feel today with our Team Members.”

The first Whole Foods Market Daily Shop location is set to open on the Upper East Side at 1175 Third Avenue this fall. The company also announced the second future location for the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop format in Hell’s Kitchen. An additional New York City location and national rollout will follow.

Whole Foods Market Daily Shop stores will feature a variety of fresh, seasonal produce, prepared foods, and essential grocery items. The innovative, smaller store format will range between 7,000 to 14,000 square feet, or about a quarter to half the footprint of an average 40,000 square foot store.

For more from the press release, click here. And keep reading ANUK for more retail news.