Whole Foods Market announced today plans to open its fourth store in Westchester County in Chappaqua, on the old Readers Digest property where a new residential and retail development is planned, a Chappaqua Crossing spokesman said.
The nation’s leading natural and organic food retailer would build a 40,000-square-foot store to anchor the retail center section of the development, which is in the Town of New Castle's approval process.
"The addition of a Whole Foods at Chappaqua Crossing is part of a retail development plan that Summit Greenfield is proposing for the site, and which still requires a number of approvals from the Town and other agencies," said New Castle Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein. "The Town's planning staff has been actively reviewing Summit Greenfield's proposal and the Town Board will be conducting public hearings on the matter over the upcoming months."
The announcement was made May 7 during Whole Foods Market’s quarterly earnings call, Geoff Thompson said.
The company currently operates approximately 375 stores in the
U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
In New York there are 14 including three in Westchester: White Plains, Port Chester and Yonkers. Next month a new store will open in Albany.
There are also six locations in Southern Connecticut: Greenwich,
Darien, Fairfield, Westport, Milford and Danbury.
Chappaqua has been without a supermarket for several years since the closing of a small D’Agostino’s store.
“We are delighted to have Whole Foods Market coming to Chappaqua Crossing,” said Felix Charney, President of Summit Development, based in Southport, CT. “There is no question that Whole Foods Market is a leading brand not only in the world of organic food markets but in the entire supermarket industry.
“There has been a great deal of interest in Chappaqua Crossing on the part of many prominent grocers but we believe Whole Foods Market is the perfect fit for Chappaqua and the entire New Castle community. The new stores will enable Chappaqua residents to shop in their home town which will provide a boost for retail businesses town-wide. The new center will bring much needed tax revenue to the town and its outstanding school system. We expect to make other announcements that will bring a world class fitness facility and other features that will serve the daily needs of Chappaqua.”
Construction of the Whole Foods Market would begin after completion of zoning and site plan review for the retail component of Chappaqua Crossing.
Amended plans for the retail and residential sections were filed by Summit/Greenfield April 4.
The revised retail plan has Whole Foods as a freestanding 40,000-sq-ft, full-service grocery flanked by 10,000-sq-ft of stores in the southern portion of the retail area.
The developers asked the Town Board last month to approve the growing of fruits and vegetables for sale as a permitted use, saying the grocery tenant had expressed interest in growing organic produce on site in a farm garden or greenhouse.
The remaining 70,000-sq-ft of retail stores area would be arranged in a "traditional neighborhood design" configuration along the north and south sides of the main entry drive. Trucks would enter and exit only from Route 117.
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