Whole Foods Market - Bedford, MA

Whole Foods Market

Opened: 2003

Owner: Amazon

Previous Tenants: Purity Supreme (1966-early 1990s) > Nature's Heartland (opened 1996, closed by 2000) > Bread & Circus (opened by 2000, converted to Whole Foods in 2003)

Cooperative: none

Location: 170 Great Rd, Bedford, MA

Photographed: March 5, 2025

Time for our latest Whole Foods store! Like so many others we've seen in the Boston area, this store was previously a Bread & Circus, but it actually has a much more interesting history than just that. It was constructed in 1966 as a Purity Supreme, and it appears that when that chain was acquired by Stop & Shop in the 1990s, this store was moved into the new-build Bedford location just down the street. The former owners of Purity Supreme then started a natural food chain, called Nature's Heartland, which had opened here by 1996 and closed by 2000. Bread & Circus (owned by Whole Foods) opened no later than 2000, then converted to Whole Foods in 2003 along with the rest of the locations.

The 42,000 square foot store definitely feels like an older-school Whole Foods although it's been relatively recently renovated. It looks like the last extensive renovation happened around the time it converted from Bread & Circus to Whole Foods. There aren't a lot of pictures of the interior from before the renovation, but here's a glimpse inside.

One thing I've noticed about the Boston-area Whole Foods: very few stores have polished concrete flooring, which seems to be the standard (even in older stores) in other areas. That's likely a remnant of Bread & Circus.

In another old-school touch, this store only has one entrance and one exit unlike most Whole Foods. You enter on the right side to produce and floral, with meat, seafood, cheese, and dairy on the back wall from right to left. Deli, prepared foods, and bakery are on the left side of the store along with frozen foods, and there's a coffee shop and cafe in the front-left corner. The prepared foods/deli and bakery room is an expansion from the original supermarket.

I like this decor, although the orange color feels a little bit like Pathmark in the 90s.

And the flooring is definitely unusual for a Whole Foods, although it's in excellent condition.

But it's highly unusual to see a Whole Foods with a drop ceiling and white vinyl tile flooring -- except in the Boston area, I suppose. Where else has anyone seen this?

A look at the front wall towards the front-left corner. The cafe is behind the row of shelving on the left, and the coffee shop is under that red overhang.

I really do like the look of this store, though. It feels like the Whole Foods I remember going to long ago in my childhood.

Adding to that: frozen foods in open coffin cases on the left side of the store. You can see the deli-bakery expansion room with the open ceiling to the right in the below picture.