2. Whole Foods Target Market
Upper middle and upper class
College-educated
Healthy/socially organic
consumers
3. Wellesley: Blue Blood
Estates
Older, Wealthy with kids
“A family portrait of suburban wealth, a place
of million-dollar homes and manicured lawns,
high-end cars and exclusive private clubs. The
nation's second-wealthiest lifestyle is
characterized by married couples with children,
graduate degrees, a significant percentage of
Asian Americans, and six-figure incomes earned
by business executives, managers, and
professionals.”- Claritas.com
4. Type of Shopping Area
Outparcel
Not connected but shares same
lot
Larger trade area
Wellesley Shopping Center
Shared parking lot
5. Accessibility
On Route 16
Outside of downtown Wellesley
Traffic Light
Not on Route 9
6. Natural and Physical Barriers
Low visibility in some areas
Several trees
Wellesley Shopping Center
Blocks view at intersection
9. Trade Area
Primary Location
Around 5 minutes away by car
Most of Wellesley
Specifically NW and SE of the store
Secondary Location
1
Around 10 minutes away by car
Tertiary Location
Fringe area
15-20 minutes by car from location
Other locations close by
10. Trade Area: Drive Time
Less than 20 minutes
4other Whole Foods locations
within 5-11 miles away
11. Parasite Stores
An “anchor”
major retailer within trade area
Parasites:
MobileGas Station (On the
Run/Red box)
Needham Bank
Whole Foods’ target market include the upper middle and upper socioeconomic classes that can afford a premium price for groceries. This usually includes college educated residents who are generally more conscious about what they eat. This market typically eats organically for health and social reasons.
This is taken from claritas.com and is a description of the most prevalent resident of Wellesley, MA. Source: http://www.claritas.comOther categories that Claritas ranked Wellesley as:Blue Blood EstatesExecutive SuitesUpper CrustWinner’s Circle
Whole Foods is an outparcel store in the Wellesley Shopping Center. It is not connected to other stores, however, it shares the same parking area and lot with the Shopping Center. Closest to Whole Foods is a vacant unit that used to be a CVS. Across the street there is a gas station (with a Red Box) and an Elizabeth Grady Salon. At the next intersection is Needham Bank. These retail locations broaden the trade area since there will be more consumers coming in and out of the are to these other stores.
Located on Route 16, Whole Foods has a lot of traffic passing their store every day, which increases traffic flow into their store. However, there is not enough traffic to impede access to the store. Even though your location is a long term situation, Whole Foods recently changed locations from a much smaller site in downtown Wellesley. At the old location, there were only about 10-15 parking spots and the surrounding area is very inconvenient to park in as well. Now, they have a large parking lot that is easy to get in and out of. There is traffic light to further help deviate traffic flow for ease of entering the Whole Foods parking lot. This location is also a better location than on Route 9 because there is no road barrier blocking left turns.
There are some trees that slightly hampers visibility of the Whole Foods sign when driving North-Northwest down Route 16, but you can easily tell that it is a market. On the same note, the Wellesley Shopping Center with the trees completely block the visibility of Whole Foods at the intersection of Route 16 and State/Kingsbury Street.
There are 4 other Whole Foods locations within 5-11 Miles of the Wellesley Whole Foods, represented by the red star. For this reason we know that this Whole Foods is going to have a relatively small trade area, with people coming from no more than 15 minutes away. The next slide shows another interpretation of the trade area.
These rings represent the three different trade area locations: Red: Primary trading area; around 2 miles around the Whole Foods or five minutes of drivingBlue: Secondary TA; about 4 miles away or 10 to 15 minutes of drivingPurple: Tertiary TA/ fringe; anywhere from 15-25 minutes of driving. There are four other Whole foods locations within 5-11 miles away from this location. Therefore customers from further away will most likely shop at another Whole Foods location.
Since Wellesley is a small town most of the residents fit within the primary trade location area. This means 60% (and probably more) of Whole Food’s customers live within 5 minutes by car. More specifically, residents who live directly NE or SW of the store since this is where there it is more thickly nested. As for the Secondary zone, this is roughly around 2-5 miles away from the store, or 10-15 minutes of driving. This reaches the areas just past Wellesley and Babson College. The tertiary zone is better defined as the fringe area in this circumstance and it begins about 5-10 miles away from the store, or 15-20 minutes by car. Since there are other locations 5-11 miles away, many tertiary customers may also be primary shoppers at other locations. These other locations are to the NW, NE, SW and SE of the Wellesley location.
Wellesley is a highly concentrated residential area that features two colleges within the town. Since it is a small town, most of the residents live within a 3 mile radius from the Wellesley Whole Foods location. For the those who live outside of town, there are four other Whole Foods locations from 5 to 11 miles away in every direction, therefore the Wellesley Whole Foods may not be the closest location for them.
On this corner of Washington street there are not many other stores around, Whole Foods is a separate stand alone building. However, there are some other nearby establishments that definitely have increased sales due to the new presence of Whole Foods. Although Whole Foods may be new to the location, it replaced another supermarket, Star Market, that I’m sure had a similar impact. The other stores in the area constitute as other “staple stores” that a person who would typically do the grocery shopping would need to stop and go to. Mobile gas station is only across the street that has many pumps for quick in and out service. Inside the gas station there is also a mini market and a Red Box.
In the area, the other competition for Whole Foods includes Roche Brothers, Trader Joes and Stop & Shop. Roche Brothers being the closest also has a very high end atmosphere that is appealing to the Wellesley clientele. Trader Joe’s on the other hand can offer similar organic products that are sold at Whole Foods. Like Whole Foods, Trader Joes has their own label “Trader Joes” that competes with “360” products (Whole Foods). The least likely to be a competitor but still in the competition is Stop & Shop. This is solely included because it is another big grocery store in the area yet offers a completely different shopping experience.
