Edmonton shoppers eagerly awaiting Whole Foods will have to keep waiting.
The U.S. organic and natural foods giant announced in February 2015 that it would move into a renovated south Edmonton location this fall.
The building’s exterior is complete but the interior floor is still dirt.
READ MORE: Whole Foods Market coming to Edmonton in 2016
One construction worker said he was told Whole Foods wasn’t coming soon. He said workers were told to finish what they were doing but not to start other planned work at the site.
Would-be suppliers to Whole Foods told Global News they had been told the store’s opening would be delayed due, in part, to Alberta’s economy.
READ MORE: Alberta’s economy doing worse than expected, TD report warns
Proposed stores in Edmonton and Calgary do not appear on Whole Foods’ “Stores in Development” web page.
Neither Whole Foods nor the property management company that owns the building agreed to an interview.
A spokesperson for Whole Foods sent an e-mail saying, “Whole Foods Market hasn’t confirmed an opening date for the Edmonton store yet.”
Michael Kalmanovitch, who owns Earth’s General Store, says the organic food sector is a difficult one now in Alberta.
“There’s lots of concern about the viability of our economy,” he said.
Those who have lost their job or fear losing their job may not be interested in spending premium prices for organic food.
Those who are spending more have more options to buy. Most major supermarkets including Walmart and Superstore carry organic lines.
As a result, Kalmanovitch says, “We’re not growing anywhere near what we used to.”
He wonders if such a market became unattractive to a specialty, premium grocer like Whole Foods.
READ MORE: Whole Foods to name new chain of ‘value’ stores after ‘365’ brand
The executive director at the University of Alberta’s School of Retailing doesn’t think the economy is responsible for store-opening delays. However, Emily Deveaux says Whole Foods has challenges in the Alberta market.
“I think when you’re a niche grocer, it gets even more challenging.”
Deveaux says establishing a supply chain in a new country or province is difficult. It gets even more difficult for a company like Whole Foods that pledged to source as much local product as possible.
There may be a market for organic food but for a large store like Whole Foods to succeed, it needs a lot of customers and a lot of suppliers. Alberta is small compared to many of the American centers where Whole Foods thrives.
The Canadian dollar might also be an obstacle. Deveaux says all grocery stores are struggling with increased food importing costs due to a low dollar.
All of these issues may make some Canadian markets unattractive.
“I do think in the higher populated areas, if the location is well planned, I think Whole Foods will do just fine,” said Deveaux.
“Expansion now should be quite calculated but it doesn’t seem to be.”
Whole Foods currently operates 11 Canadian stores. One store is in Ottawa. The rest are in either Toronto or Vancouver.
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