[EXCLUSIVE] Whole Foods to Anchor New Shopping Center in Roswell

A new Whole Foods Market is coming to metro Atlanta.  The new store, being developed by Atlanta-based SJC Ventures, is planned for Roswell where it will be built on a plot of land that is currently mostly vacant.  The store will measure a little more than 30,000 square feet and will be joined by other smaller retail spaces.  

The project, something that ToNeTo Atlanta has heard about for several years, is finally moving forward with SJC publicizing it along with five other Whole Foods centers it is developing along the east coast between now and 2028.  The Roswell store would be situated behind Westminster Japanese Church, which will remain, while land previously used seasonally by Big John's Christmas Trees will be absorbed by the development.  

Roswell Station (1340 Woodstock Road), as it's referred to in marketing materials, will span about six acres and include a 30,060 Whole Foods Market plus 30,377 square feet of "small shop space" spread across three buildings.  A new Roswell Fire Station will also be built adjacent to the project at the hard corner of Bowen Road and Woodstock Road (Highway 92).  The new station represents a significant improvement in emergency response time.   The center is located across the street from the Target-anchored Roswell Corners shopping center which includes a Fresh Market which opened in 2015 in place of a shuttered Staples.   

SJC (then known as S.J. Collins Enterprises) previously developed Whole Foods-anchored centers in Savannah (Victory Station), Chamblee (Peachtree Station), and Decatur (North Decatur Square) in 2013, 2017, and 2018 respectively.  The firm also previously purchased and repositioned Washington Crossing in Augusta, opening a Whole Foods in 2014 but seeing it close in 2017.  

The Whole Foods at Roswell Station is expected to open during the second half of 2028.    

While primarily involved in the development of Whole Foods-anchored centers, SJC also previously developed phase one and two of The Interlock in West Midtown, with phase two anchored by a Lidl grocery store.  

In addition to the Roswell store, SJC announced September 29 that it has five other Whole Foods stores in its immediate pipeline including those in Midlothian, VA (Fall 2026), Wesley Chapel, FL (Summer 2027), Wyomissing, PA (Fall 2027), Naples, FL (Summer 2028), and Clermont, FL (Fall 2028).  

Elsewhere in metro Atlanta, another new Whole Foods is slated to open in early 2027 at the new Fuqua Development project Forsyth Town Center along Ronald Reagan Parkway in Forsyth County. 

The Austin, TX-based grocer, which was purchased by Amazon in 2017, currently operates twelve locations in Georgia.   

We have also heard talk of at least two more Whole Foods stores being considered, one in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, beyond Buford, and another to the south near Peachtree City.  We hope to have more information on both locations soon.  

Are you excited for the opening of Whole Foods in Roswell?  What else would you like to see open as part of Roswell Station? Where else in metro Atlanta would you like to see Whole Foods open?

Please share your thoughts below.