Whole Foods Market Richmond announces grand opening

Whole Foods Market will open its long-anticipated Richmond store at 9 a.m. on Jan. 30, the Amazon.com Inc.-owned supermarket chain announced Tuesday.

Construction on the 47,000-square-foot store built on the location of the former Pleasants Hardware store at 2024 W. Broad St. in Richmond’s Fan District began in spring 2018. Whole Foods incorporated historic elements in the store’s design, keeping the building’s original brick façade and wooden beams. The store anchors The Sauer Center, owned by Sauer Properties Inc., the development company owned by the Sauer family of Richmond.

The grocery store was first announced in 2014, after Sauer Properties purchased the former Virginia Department of Taxation office and 4.85 adjacent acres in 2012.  CarMax Inc. announced last year it had signed a lease for 80,000 square feet of office space in the former tax building, and local IT company SingleStone is moving to the development from western Henrico County, it said last month.

“We are excited to welcome the Richmond community to their new Whole Foods Market,” Store Team Leader Bill Balderson said in a statement. “With a variety of high-quality products, items local to Virginia and many prepared food options located on the first floor, paired with a self-serve eatery and taproom on the second, we’re confident our neighbors will enjoy eating and shopping with us.”

The Richmond store will offer indoor and outdoor seating for a total of 150 customers.

With more than 500 locations in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, this is Whole Foods’ second location in the Richmond market. It has 15 additional stores across Virginia, including the location in Henrico County’s Short Pump area.

Whole Foods Market Richmond will employ approximately 165 full and part-time team members.

Following the grand opening, the store will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.