NY: Whole Foods Market Opens in Western New York City of Brighton, Creating 128 Local Jobs

Whole Foods Market recently opened its first Rochester, N.Y.-area location in Brighton, N.Y., creating 128 jobs. Whole Foods is best known for selling organic products and keeping processed food off its shelves, reports the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Hundreds of shoppers lined up outside the Brighton store before dawn for the recently opening.

The 50,000-square-foot store — the anchor of a $39 million plaza developed by Daniele Family Companies — is the 56th in the Northeast and the 27th in New York state, said John Lawson, senior local forager for Whole Foods. The only other western New York store is in Amherst, Erie County.

There are eight self-checkout stations and six staffed checkout lanes, and they’re equipped with Amazon’s “One” palm-scanner contactless payment technology. (Amazon bought Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion.) Available to Amazon Prime members, it uses a near-infrared light to read vein patterns under the skin, which are as unique as fingerprints.

Grocery delivery for Prime members will be available starting in two weeks, said Whole Foods spokesperson Veronica Delia.

Lawson estimated that the Brighton store has roughly 30,000 items in inventory, 20% and 30% of which are under Whole Foods’ less-expensive house brand, 365.

More than 500 items at the Brighton store are produced regionally or locally. Among the made-in-Rochester products are coffee from Bold & Gritty, sauces from Rubino’s Italian Foods, pasta from Bozza’s and kombucha from Katboocha. The store also has partnered with Village Bakery & Café to provide baguettes, sourdough and table batard, among other items.