<P> Whole Foods Market Inc. is an American supermarket chain exclusively featuring foods without artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats . </P> <P> The precursors of Whole Foods were John Mackey and Renee Hardy Lawson's SaferWay store, founded in 1978, and Craig Weller and Mark Skiles' Clarksville Natural Grocery, both in Austin, Texas . On September 20, 1980, these stores merged to open the first Whole Foods Market Store, also in Austin, the company's current headquarters . In the 1990s, Whole Foods bought a series of organic food chain competitors, including Wellspring and Freshfield's, quickly cementing its position as the highest - volume seller of organic food in the United States . As of September 2015, it has 91,000 employees and 431 supermarkets in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and has its main produce procurement office in Watsonville, California . </P> <P> As of 2015, founder John Mackey and Walter Robb were co-CEOs of the publicly traded company, with John Elstrott as chairman . In November 2016, the company announced that Walter Robb would be stepping down as co-CEO at the end of year and would remain with the company as a director . It became a Fortune 500 company in March 2005 and is the 30th largest retailer in the U.S., based on 2014 revenue . </P> <P> On June 16, 2017, it was announced that Amazon.com would acquire Whole Foods for $13.7 billion at $42 per share, a 27 percent premium to its previous closing price . Following the conclusion of the deal at the end of 2017, Whole Foods will become a subsidiary of Amazon, widely expanding Amazon's presence as a physical retailer . </P>

Who owned whole foods before amazon bought it