10. Industry City houses Whole Food Markets first permanent online-only store in Brooklyn

Whole Foods Online Only Store in Industry City
BROOKLYN, NY – August 24, 2020: Whole Foods “dark” store at 167 41st St in Industry City. CREDIT: Katherine Marks.

Located inside Industry City is Whole Food Markets’ first permanent online-only store in Brooklyn at 167 41st Street. While the store is closed to the general public it is instead used exclusively to fill the company’s delivery orders for residents of the borough. After the grocery chain was purchased by Amazon in 2017, PrimeNow delivery was introduced, a program that the online-only store works directly to provide for. This new Whole Foods location opened on September 1, 2020, amidst the global coronavirus pandemic, helping to feed into the growing demand for delivery services. In the early months of the pandemic, it had been nearly impossible to secure a delivery slot as city residents sought to stock up on goods without leaving the comfort and safety of their homes. 

Nicknamed a “dark store,” Whole Foods’ online-only location is fully managed by hundreds of market team members who are the only individuals allowed inside the store. There they are tasked with bagging all orders. Utilizing a smartphone to ensure that all items for each order have been successfully procured, each bag then receives a bar code which is scanned by staff before the bag is then left on a shelf ready to be delivered. 

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