Whole Foods set to open second London branch

Whole Foods is to open its second London organic superstore, six years after the launch of its first branch in Kensington High Street.

The store, in Richmond, will take up two floors and about 20,000 square feet, a quarter of the size of the three-storey Kensington site, former home to the Barkers department store.

It will be situated in Lower George Street, serving one of London's wealthiest enclaves, on a site currently occupied by Uniqlo, and is to be completed in 2013. A store is also planned for Glasgow.

Whole Foods is yet to make a profit in Britain which it puts down to the size of the Kensington site, a downturn in demand for expensive organic food during the recession and stiff competition from Waitrose and Marks & Spencer.

The chain's founder and joint chief executive John Mackey, announcing the opening, said: "When we opened our Kensington store, pretty soon after that the economy collapsed, so our timing wasn't great. But we've weathered that."