Section 1: Background In 1978, Mackey and Renee Lawson borrowed $45,000 from family and friends to open a small natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin. Two years later John 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.
Officially being founded in 1980, Whole Foods Market had evolved from a local supermarket for natural and health foods in Austin, Texas, into the world's largest chain on natural and organic foods supermarkets. In 2009 the company had a sales revenue of $8 billion and in the early 2010, had 289 store in the Unites States, Canada, and
Great Britain. Over that 30 year period of time the company had emerged as the leader in the natural and organic foods movement across the united states, helping gain acceptance among growing numbers of consumers concerned about the food they ate.
The Whole Foods Market that opened on September 20th,1980 only had a staff of 19 people. It was an immediate success. At the time, there were less than half a dozen natural food supermarkets in the United States. The company sought to offer the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful naturally and organic foods to more and more customers in more and more communities would gradually transform the diets of individuals in a manner that would help them live longer, healthier, more pleasurable lives. Mackey’s vision was for Whole Foods to become an international brand synonymous with carrying the highest quality natural and organic foods available and

being the best food retailer in every community in which Whole Foods stores were located.