Whole Foods Market Builders In St. Pete Dismantle Small Businesses To Start Construction

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Piles of dirt and debris surrounded by a fence Tuesday show the demolition of a Dollar General building, a long-standing gym and a Kahwa Coffee drive-thru to make room for construction of a Whole Foods Market. .

Whole Foods announced in March 2021 that it would premiere its St. Pete store at 201 38th Ave. North. Development partners SJC Ventures and J Square Developers began demolition recently after receiving required permits for the project on 38th Avenue North just before Fourth Street North.

"Part of the early construction process will include re-routing and existing storm sewer line that runs right through the middle of the property so passersby will see that happening first, plus demolition of the existing structures before going vertical," Jay Miller, CEO of J Square Developers, said in a news release.

The closest Whole Foods locations to St. Pete are Clearwater, Tampa and Sarasota. Whole Foods is owned by Amazon and headquartered in Austin.

Patch reached out to Whole Foods for the estimated completion date of the building. The company said it will be posted on their website when they are ready to release the date.

History Of Whole Foods

According to its website, "Whole Foods was started by John Mackey and Renee Lawson in 1978. They borrowed $10,000 and raised $35,000 from friends. They opened a little store (in Austin) that sold natural and vegetarian foods. The store was named SaferWay."

When SaferWay merged with a natural foods grocery based out of Clarksville, Texas, two years later, Whole Foods Market was created. In 1984, the business expanded out of Austin, and by 1999 there were a total of 100 stores.

Related Patch Story:

• Whole Foods To Open First St. Pete Location