Midtown Whole Foods Market Will Soon Offer Grocery Pickup ‘In Response To COVID-19’ Post-Renovation

In addition to our normal news coverage, What Now Atlanta is tracking ways Atlanta’s businesses are adapting to the novel coronavirus and the challenges it brings to brick-and-mortars.

Whole Foods Market in the Midtown Place shopping center, at 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue, will soon add “grocery pickup” to its list of services.

Currently, the grocer only offers delivery from this location.

Whole Foods Market will convert dine-in seating into the “grocery pickup area,” according to a permit application filed with the City of Atlanta for the $21,000 renovation.

“In response to COVID-19, we’re quickly expanding our list of stores that offer grocery pickup,” Whole Foods Market wrote on a splash page for the service.

Reps for the national grocery chain did not respond to What Now Atlanta’s request for comment and a store manager was unaware of the impending renovation.

Grocery delivery and pickup are a growing trend in the U.S. amid the coronavirus outbreak with a “110 percent boost in daily sales between March and April,” according to Tech Crunch.

Atlanta-area Whole Foods that currently offer grocery delivery and pickup include the new Midtown flagship, Chamblee, and in Marietta’s Merchants Walk.

[Editor’s note: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly evolving as is its effect on Atlanta, and the City’s businesses and its residents. Click here for What Now Atlanta’s ongoing coverage of the crisis. For guidance and updates on the pandemic, please visit the C.D.C. website.]