A Look Inside: Whole Foods Market Opening Its Doors In Bucks County

DOYLESTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — Whole Foods is open for business.

After months of planning, building, hiring, and preparing, Bucks County's first Whole Foods Market officially opened on Thursday morning at the Barn Plaza on Route 611 and Almshouse Road.

"We're here and we're excited to welcome everyone on opening day and going forward," said Susannah Frishman-Phillips, a communications specialist with the Austin-based chain.

The store has been in the works since September 2022 when Brixmor Property Group, which owns the Barn Plaza on the busy Route 611 corridor, announced the news that the grocer would be opening at a space formerly occupied by Marshall's/Home Goods. Since then, eager shoppers have watched the conversion of the space into the new 43,617-square-foot store.

(Jeff Werner/Patch)

(Jeff Werner/Patch)

(Jeff Werner/Patch)

Inside the new store on Wednesday afternoon, team members busily prepared the space for Thursday's big opening. The new store will employ upward of 200 team members, with about 80 percent local hires and 20 percent coming from nearby Whole Foods stores.

"We pride ourselves on our sourcing and ingredient standards," said Frishman-Phillips, stopping at a display of bananas to point out the store's "Sourced For Good" program, which helps support workers, communities and environmental stewardship where products are sourced.

As she walked through the wide aisles and past colorful displays of fruit and vegetables, Frishman-Phillips said Whole Foods is all about making customers "feel confident about what goes in your cart.

"We strive to offer high-quality products with choices for value and for specialty. We want everyone to be able to eat high-quality food and not have to worry about ingredients that concern them."

Every food and product item on the shelf must meet high standards, said Frishman-Phillips. In fact, they ban more than 300 preservatives, flavors, colors, and other ingredients from the store, she said.

At Whole Foods, organics rules. "We don't just put organics on the shelf, we put them on a pedestal," says the store's website.

It's not hard to understand why Whole Foods calls itself "the organic capital of the world." The store stocks more than 41,000 organic products and prides itself on being the first certified organic national grocer in the nation.

(Jeff Werner/Patch)

The Whole Foods Brand - 365. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

Store Highlights

• A full-service seafood counter featuring only sustainable wild-caught or responsibly-farmed seafood and a large selection of ready-to-cook items.
• A full-service meat counter offering custom cuts of steak and poultry.
• A prepared foods department featuring a hot food bar, salad bar, pizza, made-to-order sandwiches and sushi made fresh daily from Genji Sushi.
• A bakery department offering made-in-house bread as well as everyday favorites, such as Whole Foods Market’s Berry Chantilly Cake and brown butter cookies.
• A specialty department dedicated to celebrating cheesemakers and artisan producers.

The store also features an extensive curated grocery section filled with private label favorites from 365 by Whole Foods Market and local products, including organic skyr yogurt from Painterland Sisters, mini peanut butter bars and taffy from NUMA Foods, ice cream from Heritage Kulfi and tomato lonsa from Aaji’s.

In addition, the store features a Whole Body department with a large assortment of wellness, beauty and lifestyle items. Local products include superseed boosters from Tiny Sprouts Foods, soap from Naked Goat Soap Company, deodorants from Stinkbug Naturals and seasonally scented hand soap from Hand in Hand.

The store also stocks an extensive selection of more than 750 wines and 280 craft beers. Local beer selection includes Perpetual IPA by Troeg’s Independent Brewing, Deep Cut Pilsner by Love City Brewing and Philadelphia Pale Ale by Yards Brewing Co.

On opening day only, the store will offer 25 percent off on all body care items. There will also be complimentary coffee and food bites.

Store hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Click here for more information.

(Jeff Werner/Patch)

(Jeff Werner/Patch)

(Jeff Werner/Patch)