Whole Foods unwraps new T.O. location

By Sophia Fischer

sfischer@theacorn.com

Whole Foods Market shoppers in Thousand Oaks soon will have a larger store and greater selection.

After 17 years at its Avenida de los Arboles location, Whole Foods is moving to a larger space on the corner of Wilbur and Moorpark roads. The new store, slated to open Feb. 16, is in the former Four Season’s Market, just north of Janss Marketplace.

Trader Joe’s will add another store to its chain of stores by moving into the old Whole Foods space. The new store will join the original Trader Joe’s in Westlake.

At 35,000 square feet, the new Whole Foods location is nearly double its current size. The extra space will allow more offerings including a gelato bar, pizza oven, taqueria, salad bar, hot bar, coffee roaster, dining area, and a specialty department featuring beer, wine and cheese.

The store will also carry new products on larger grocery aisles, according to Marci Frumkin, marketing director for Whole Foods’s Southern Pacific region.

"Lots of our customers have been to our other stores in the L.A. area and have seen things we haven’t been able to offer," Frumkin said. "This store gives us more room so we can offer more selection. We’ll have twice as many freezer doors with a larger variety of quick and easy freezer items."

The larger store also means the company will hire about 100 new employees in addition to the 100 it currently employs.

To recruit new employees, the company will host a job fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tues., Jan. 4 and Wed., Jan. 5 at the new location: 740 North Moorpark Road.

Positions available include food service, deli, cooks, dishwashers, courtesy clerks, and workers in the meat, seafood, produce, bakery, wine and cheese areas.

Frumkin suggests filling out

an application online at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/jobs. Applicants can also access an application at the computer kiosk inside the Whole Foods store. Frumkin also advises bringing a resume to the job fair.

The permit process for the move has been a smooth one, handled by the city of Thousand Oaks administratively, said Gary Wartik, the city’s economic development manager.

"The move is a good sign that the community is receptive to their kind of product and price line," he said.

The addition of a second Trader Joe’s in the area is also positive, Wartik added.

"The second location will pick up additional business from people in northern Thousand Oaks who might not want to make the trip down to the Westlake store," he said.

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market now has 166 stores in North America and the United Kingdom, and bills itself as the largest natural and organic foods retailer in the world.

It is ranked 47th on Fortune magazine’s 2004 listing of 100 best companies to work for.

Joe Coulombe founded a L.A. chain of convenience stores called Pronto Markets in 1958, which became Trader Joe’s in 1967.

There are now more than 200 stores in 19 states, and the company has plans to expand to other parts of the country. Pat St. John, vice president of marketing for Trader Joe’s, could not be reached for comment.