On a recent trip to Washington DC, I visited Whole Foods Daily shop shop which just opened in Arlington, Va.
It’s a new concept — a smaller, urban-focused version of the traditional Whole Foods grocery store. The first three Daily Shop locations opened in New York City in the past year, and Whole Foods announcement Wednesday that it will open two more stores in Brooklyn and New Jersey in December.
The Arlington store is located at the base of a Booz Allen Hamilton office building in the Crystal City neighborhood near Amazon HQ2. It replaced a former Amazon Fresh store — a reminder of Amazon’s ongoing experimentation. $890 billion grocery industry
A sign on the front door states, “Pick up your food, snacks and weekly essentials.”
Outside, a few black vertical metal-frame signs reading “Produce” and “Deli” are mounted on white subway-style brick tiles, giving the storefront an upscale, modern feel.
Inside, it feels a lot like a regular Whole Foods — green walls and a produce section just past the entrance.
The Daily Shop occupies more than 10,000 square feet — about a quarter to half the size of an average 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market. According to The company still manages to fit the essentials — produce, prepared foods, packaged meat and fish, alcohol, toiletries — without feeling cramped.
It’s also the first Daily Shop to offer Amazon pickup and returns.
When I visited around 3 p.m., a staffed checkout and six self-checkout stations reinforced the store’s grab-and-go focus.
The Daily Shop is difficult to place in the grocery category. It’s bigger than a 7-Eleven but smaller than a Safeway — closer to a mini grocery store In some ways, it felt like a Trader Joe’s, which has one Average footprint of approximately 15,000 square feet.
A Press release Announcing the Arlington Daily Shop, store team leader Jose Gomez said: “Whether you want a quick lunch, need some ingredients on your way home from the office or you’re stopping for a meal before a flight, we’re ready to serve you!”
In fact, I was actually on my way to the nearby Reagan airport — the new store Target Market.
The Daily Shop in Arlington is a short walk from a full-size Whole Foods adjacent to Amazon’s HQ2 campus. So I walked less than a mile to compare the experience.
Prices were similar at traditional stores compared to everyday stores ($6.99 for a pound of chicken breasts, $5.29 for a dozen extra large brown eggs, $4.29 for a slice of pizza). Because of its larger size, it had more to offer — a robust hot food bar (the daily shop only had pizza slices and chicken), a coffee shop, a fresh meat/seafood case, etc. There was also an area for advertising holiday meals and grocery delivery orders.
Whether it’s a quick lunch, a to-go meal before a flight, or a few ingredients for dinner — I love big Whole Foods locations. The extensive hot bar and wide selection of items makes it a good option for me. There is also a Costco a few blocks away.
Google something basic Review The daily shop reflects this sentiment for the shop.
- Also, it’s not a complete meal unless you have a hot meal/salad bar. Total waste of space. Disappointing considering it’s next door to my favorite movie theater.”
- “Not sure what the point of this place is. Went looking for a hot/cold dinner a week ago; they only had a few slices of pizza.”
- “It’s a smaller version of the same shop around the corner, the ‘fresh produce’ is not very fresh.”
Other customers praised the store for its friendly staff and cleanliness.
Whole Foods reported Wednesday that 42% of shoppers at Daily Shop locations in New York City’s Lenox Hill neighborhood are either new or returning Whole Foods customers — “proving that the concept is successful in driving new business to the retailer.”
I see stores attracting more traffic to a “food desert” where there aren’t many other grocery options, including a traditional Whole Foods location. It seems to primarily serve urban professionals, commuters or office workers in the vicinity.
“In our new store format, we’re aligning every square foot with the unique, fast-paced demands of the urban lifestyle,” Whole Foods executive Christina Minardi said in a statement. Press release last year
The grocer said Wednesday that berries, grapes and avocados are among the best-selling items in daily stores, along with ready-to-eat meals and rotisserie chicken.
The Daily Shop may also appeal as a place to return Amazon orders. Several customers mentioned their desire for a package return service Review of the Daily Shoppe in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.
The stores can also serve as a testbed for new Amazon grocery technology — as the company did with its “Just Walk Out” checkout-free system, which debuted in Amazon Go stores before the expansion (and later to move) from the Amazon Fresh location.
Other retailers are Find recent successes With small format storeswhich has to be more selective about which products are stocked but can offer a quick shopping experience and appeal to urban customers who only need a few items, Business Insider Report
Whole Foods has tried small-format concepts before, including the one it has now discontinued.”365 by Whole Foods Marketshop
In a recent earnings call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he was “very excited” about The Daily Shop and said the initial three stores in New York City are off to a “very good start.”
Amazon overall has had mixed results from the initial launch of Amazon Fresh in 2007 to the $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017 and beyond. It introduced new store formats, paused and restarted expansion, and moved away from its “just walk out” technology.
Last week, Amazon unveiled another grocery experiment: a “store within a store” model that uses automated micro-fulfillment to bring name-brand items to Whole Foods locations.
This is part of a recent effort Whole food knitting In its larger grocery business.
The company is leading the grocery arm Jason BuchelThe Whole Foods CEO who earlier this year expanded his role to oversee Amazon’s global grocery business. Whole Foods employees Become an Amazon employee In December
the amazonsaidTotal sales of groceries and household essentials were more than $100 billion in 2024, excluding sales from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. The company is also emphasizing tighter integration of fresh grocery delivery with other Amazon.com products.