Amazon to buy Whole Foods in $13.7B deal

Grocery chain has 11 stores in NYC

Whole Foods Market in the East Village (Credit: Getty Images)
Whole Foods Market in the East Village (Credit: Getty Images)

Amazon agreed to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in a blockbuster deal that could have a big impact on New York’s retail real estate market.

Whole Foods, a grocery store chain, has 11 prime locations in New York City, and is widely known as one of the city’s most sought-after retail tenants. The retailer has been struggling with declining sales in recent years and saw its stock price lose half its value since 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In January, Whole Foods reached a deal to bring its lower-priced concept store to Two Trees’ 300 Ashland Place in Fort Greene.  The retailer is also bringing a 60,000-square-foot store to Brookfield Property Partners’ 5 Manhattan West, and is building out a space at Harry Macklowe’s 1 Wall Street.

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Amazon, an online retail giant, offers grocery deliveries and buying Whole Foods could open up new ways to reach customers. The company has also been been opening brick-and-mortar stores and is expected to open a bookstore in the Time Warner center, where Whole Foods also happens to be a tenant.

Amazon is also said to be considering taking 350,000 square feet of office space at 5 Manhattan West.

Whole Foods’ share price surged 27 percent following the news of the acquisition to $41.99. [WSJ]Konrad Putzier