JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Whole Foods Market opened on Thursday a new 38,432-square-foot store at 1 Riverside Ave. in downtown Jacksonville. Its assortment included more than 800 locally sourced products from Florida, curated with support from Dustin Kennedy, the company’s Forager for Local & Emerging Brands.
The store’s design incorporates vertical wooden slat walls inspired by the former Florida Times-Union building that once occupied the site. A color palette of soft greens and blues reflects the water and sky along the nearby St. Johns River, nodding to the character of Jacksonville’s historic Brooklyn neighborhood.
Features of the downtown Jacksonville store include:
- A Prepared Foods department featuring hot food and salad bars with a rotating menu of comfort foods and seasonal options, fresh pizza by the slice or by the whole pie, a Market Sandwich venue featuring a menu of gourmet sandwiches and sushi rolled fresh daily by Genjiopens in a new tab.
- An array of certified organic, conventional and Sourced for Goodopens in a new tab produce. All fresh produce and floral items meet our Pollinator Health Policyopens in a new tab to reduce the use of chemical pesticides. Local options include potted herbs from Kitchen Gardensopens in a new tab.
- Curated grocery section filled with exclusive brand favorites and products from local suppliers including ice pops from The Hyppo Gourmet Ice Popsopens in a new tab, honey from Bee Friends Farmopens in a new tab and snacks from The Lentil Houseopens in a new tab.
- Seafood counter providing expert fishmonger service, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat meal solutions, and a variety of packaged smoked items. All offerings are either sustainable wild-caught or Responsibly Farmed. Local options include littleneck clams from Cedar Key Seafarmsopens in a new tab, smoked fish dips from Key West Smoked Fish Co.opens in a new tab and a local fresh fish assortment, including Florida-caught finfish and lobster, that varies daily.
- Full-service meat counter, with animal-welfare certified selections and expert butchers available to cut steaks and poultry to order. Features include made-in-house fresh sausage and marinated and seasoned meats for quick and easy meals. Animals must be raised with no antibiotics ever. Local options include beef from Adams Ranch Natural Beefopens in a new tab.
- Specialty department dedicated to celebrating cheesemakers and artisan producers. The cheese counter is overseen by trained cheesemongers who can offer recommendations for any occasion and create custom boards. Local options include hand-pulled mozzarella from Mozzaritaopens in a new tab, fruit jams from Gables Delightopens in a new tab and breadsticks from Jennifer’s Homemadeopens in a new tab.
- Extensive beverage selection including more than 500 wines and 200 craft beers. Local beer options include Swamp Head Breweryopens in a new tab Big Nose IPA, Intuition Ale Worksopens in a new tab Party Wave Hazy IPA and Bold City Breweryopens in a new tab Manatee IPA.
- Bakery department offering bread baked fresh daily as well as everyday favorites, such as Whole Foods Market’s Berry Chantilly Cake and brown butter cookies. The department also carries a wide variety of special diet items. Local offerings include rugelach, challah and rolls from Simply Delicious Cafe and Bakeryopens in a new tab and Key lime pie from Keys Fisheriesopens in a new tab
- Wellness & Beauty department with a wide range of body care, beauty, lifestyle and supplement products. Local options include TrueFit protein powders from RSP Nutritionopens in a new tab, soap from Lolablueopens in a new tab and skincare and haircare products from Acureopens in a new tab.
Opening morning, customers enjoyed samples from La Gringuita Gourmet Cookiesopens in a new tab and coffee from Bold Bean Coffee Roastersopens in a new tab. The first 300 customers in line received a limited-edition Jacksonville tote bag and a Secret Saver coupon featuring savings up to $100 off.
To celebrate the opening, Whole Foods Market also provided a food donation to Gleaner’s Dispatchopens in a new tab, which makes regular surplus food pickups from local Whole Foods Market stores to help prevent food waste and serve the surrounding community. The organization previously received an all-electric refrigerated van through Whole Foods Market’s Nourishing Our Neighborhoods program, which aims to enhance the ability of local food rescue organizations to transport surplus food to areas facing the greatest need. Whole Foods Market will also provide monetary donations to Hunger Fightopens in a new tab and United Community Outreach Ministryopens in a new tab.
All food at Whole Foods Market must meet the company’s rigorous quality standardsopens in a new tab, which prohibit hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup and more than 300 flavors, colors, sweeteners and other ingredients commonly found in food. In addition, all beauty and body care products must meet the company’s body care standards, which ban more than 240 commonly used ingredients, including phthalates, parabens and microbeads.
Prime members who shop at Whole Foods Market have access to a number of benefits year-round, including deep discounts on select popular products each week and an additional 10% off hundreds of in-store sale items. Additionally, customers can pay in-store with their palm using Amazon One or with the Whole Foods Market or Amazon app. Grocery Pickup will be available shortly after opening. For more information on in-store benefits for Prime members and payment options, please visit https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/amazonopens in a new tab.
