[BREAKING NEWS] Whole Foods Market in Kennesaw to Open October 6

Credible sources with knowledge of the grocer's plans say that Whole Foods Market, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, will open their highly anticipated new store in Kennesaw next month.  The store, which will co-anchor the Kennesaw Marketplace shopping center, is expected to open Friday, October 6, at the corner of Ernest Barrett and Cobb Parkways, not far from Kennesaw Mountain.  

Kennesaw Marketplace is already home to co-anchor Academy Sports + Outdoors, Guitar Center and a host of quick serve restaurants such as Zoës Kitchen, Burger 21, MOD Pizza and Otter's Chicken, among others.  

The opening of the new Whole Foods will coincide with the closure of Harry's Farmers Market in Marietta, about six miles away.  The closure of Harry's Marietta, slated for Thursday, October 5,  will mark the end of the Atlanta-born brand.

Harry Blazer opened the first Harry's Farmers Market in Alpharetta in 1987.  Subsequent locations opened in Marietta, Gwinnett and Clayton, with the latter having a short life due to an apparent lack of affluent customers.

Whole Foods Market acquired the three remaining Harry's Farmers Market megastores (Marietta, Alpharetta & Gwinnett), a distribution center, a commissary kitchen, bakehouse and office facilities in October 2001. The new stores more than doubled Whole Foods' local presence in Atlanta which at the time included just two stores, Briarcliff and Sandy Springs.   Whole Foods did not acquire the Harry's in a Hurry mini-market stores in their 2001 acquisition, all of which have since closed.  

Harry's Farmers Market in Gwinnett was the first of the three megastores to close. It ceased operations in 2006, shortly before the new Whole Foods Market opened on State Bridge Road in Duluth.  The Alpharetta location closed in October 2014, followed by the opening of the Whole Foods Market at Avalon in Alpharetta later in the month.  

The new Whole Foods in Chamblee, for which ToNeTo Atlanta was first to confirm an opening date, opened last month after a number of delays.  

The Kennesaw Whole Foods is likely the first new Whole Foods to open following Amazon's August 28th price slashing that reduced the price of select items by as much as 43%.  

In the years to come, another Whole Foods Market is planned for Atlanta, in midtown, at the corner of 14th & West Peachtree Streets.  The new 72,000 square foot "flagship" store will anchor The Related Group's new 39 story mixed-use tower.  The Whole Foods store is expected to open "late summer 2018" 

Whole Foods is also expected to bring their new 365 by Whole Foods Market "economy" store to Atlanta.  365 stores, which mainly stock the company's private label 365 brand products, are expected to open in Decatur and Buckhead.  The Decatur store is expected to open at the corner of North Decatur Road and Church Street and will anchor the new North Decatur Square shopping center. The Buckhead store will anchor the re-imagined Paces Ferry Plaza at West Paces Ferry and Northside Parkway.   Both stores are expected to open in "late 2018."  

Are you excited for the opening of Whole Foods Market in Kennesaw?  Have you noticed the new, lower prices at Whole Foods in the wake of Amazon's efforts to become more affordable?  Have you tried out delivery services like Instacart and AmazonFresh?  If so, do think they are worth it?

Please share your thoughts below  

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