Whole Foods Market will open a new 42,000-square-foot store Nov. 5 in the Marketplace at Heritage Harbour at 7295 State Road 64 East in Bradenton, Florida — the retailer’s first store in Manatee County and its 40th in the state.
The store opens at 8 a.m. on opening day, with regular hours of 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. Its assortment features more than 450 local items from more than 115 Florida-based suppliers, sourced with the help of Dustin Kennedy, the retailer’s forager for local and emerging brands.
Local offerings throughout the store include lion’s mane mushrooms from Lion Farms, salsa from Sunset Salsa, juice from 305 Squeezed, littleneck clams from Cedar Key Seafarms, smoked fish dips from Key West Smoked Fish Co., beef from Adams Ranch Natural Beef, hand-pulled mozzarella from Mozzarita, chocolates from Norman Love Confections and craft beers from Green Bench, Tampa Bay and Coppertail brewing companies.
Departments include a seafood counter with fishmonger service and a daily-changing local fresh fish assortment; a full-service meat counter with butchers cutting to order and made-in-house sausage; a cheese counter staffed by trained cheesemongers; a beverage selection with more than 650 wines and 250 craft beers; prepared foods with hot food and salad bars, fresh pizza, a Market Sandwich venue and sushi rolled daily by Genji; a bakery with bread baked fresh daily, including the retailer’s Berry Chantilly Cake; and a wellness and beauty department.
On opening morning, customers can try out coffee from Buddy Brew Coffee, and the first 300 customers in line will receive a limited-edition Bradenton tote bag and a Secret Saver coupon with savings of up to $100.
To celebrate the opening, Whole Foods will provide food and monetary donations to Good Neighbors, which makes regular surplus food pickups from local Whole Foods stores. The organization previously received a refrigerated van through the retailer’s Nourishing Our Neighborhoods program.
Prime members receive weekly discounts on select products and an additional 10 percent off hundreds of in-store sale items, with grocery pickup available shortly after opening.
Founded in 1980, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market is part of Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores, serving customers in more than 560 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Related: Whole Foods Market To Open July 2 In Doral, FL