Whole Foods CEO wants to open hundreds of smaller stores
Jason Buechel runs Whole Foods Market and, since January 2025, all of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores. He tells Brian Sozzi that the weekly grocery run has been replaced by shopping three to four times a week, and that a 40,000-square-foot store takes so long to site in a city like Manhattan that the format itself had to change. Daily Shop, the answer, condenses a full Whole Foods into 9,000 to 12,000 square feet. Twelve are open, six in London and six in the US.
He also addresses the “whole paycheck” reputation directly, explains why the salad bar has fewer choices than it used to, and says where meat prices go next.
00:00 “I see hundreds”
00:30 What is going on at Whole Foods right now
01:34 The 10-year vision, and the 11 months alongside John Mackey
05:57 What Daily Shop is, and why 9,000 square feet instead of 40,000
08:44 How many small stores Whole Foods could open
09:22 Closing the price gap with Kroger and Walmart
11:03 What surprised him on his last store walks
12:55 How prepared food is changing the store layout
14:29 Self-checkout, cashiers, and the new Amazon Dash Cart
17:23 Is the “Amazon magic” finally reaching Whole Foods
18:44 Alexa for shopping, and photographing your leftovers
19:37 Running Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores
22:27 Can Whole Foods ever shed “whole paycheck”
24:00 When meat prices come down
25:14 Why the salad bar has fewer choices
27:09 How he has changed as a leader
29:03 Close
Power Players with Brian Sozzi brings you candid conversations with the executives, founders and operators shaping the economy.
Subscribe to Yahoo Finance: https://yahoo.com/finance
