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More than four decades ago, a meeting of the minds behind SaferWay and Clarksville Natural Grocery landed Whole Foods Market on the nation’s culinary map – smack dab in the middle of Austin, on North Lamar Boulevard.
The original store opened in September 1980 to the delight of local residents. A scant year later, during the city’s Memorial Day flood, the fledgling natural food store’s uninsured inventory floated away, netting $400,000 in losses.
Devotees of the delicious destination pitched in to clean up the damage, and the doors were again open just 28 days following the epic flood. Talk about dedication.
– Hannah Van Sickle, The 100 Companies