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In 1978, twenty-five-year-old college dropout John Mackey and twenty-one-year-old Renee Lawson (Hardy), borrowed $45,000 from family and friends to open the doors of a small natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin, Texas.
In two years, they merged SaferWay with Clarksville Natural Grocery run by Mark Skiles and Craig Weller and renamed the business Whole Foods Market. All four (Mackey, Hardy-Lawson, Skiles and Weller) are considered co-founders of the business.
Two years later, Mackey and Lawson partnered with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles to merge SaferWay with the latter's Clarksville Natural Grocery, resulting in the opening of the original Whole Foods Market, which included meat products.
In 1980, Renee and I approached another local natural grocery store, Clarksville Natural Grocery, about joining forces. It was owned by Craig Weller and Mark Skiles. We merged our two stores and the four of us opened the first Whole Foods Market on September 20. The store was 10,500 square feet and had a staff of 19.
Without a diploma but newly inspired by the power of organic eating, Mackey and his then girlfriend, Renee Lawson Hardy, decided to go out on their own and open a natural grocery store. They set...
John Mackey, Rene Lawson Hardy, Craig Weller and Mark Skiles. First Store. Austin, Texas, opened Sept. 20,1980, with a staff of 19 team members. Headquarters. 550 Bowie St. Austin, TX 78703 (above flagship store at 525 N. Lamar Blvd.)
Apr 10, 2023 · Whole Foods was founded by John Mackey, Craig Weller, Renee Lawson Hardy, and Mark Skiles. In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods and broadened its horizon. It competes with Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market, Trader Joe’s, Raley’s, Publix, The Fresh Market, Instacart, etc.
