Whole Foods announced the launch of its small-format store concept, Whole Foods Market Daily Shop, back in March, a store format designed to provide customers in urban neighborhoods “a quick, convenient shopping experience with easier access to … fresh, high-quality offerings.” The first store opened in Manhattan, with more locations planned for the city’s Hell’s Kitchen and East Village neighborhoods. Whole Foods plans to bring the format to other U.S. cities in 2025.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Whole Foods is “planning to open more smaller-scale, Daily Shop stores in dense urban neighborhoods and win over consumers who don’t regularly visit one of the Amazon.com-owned chain’s traditional stores.”

The 9,100-square-foot Daily Shop location in New York City is about a quarter of the size of a regular Whole Foods and sells items at comparable prices, wrote WSJ. “We’re serving a previously unmet need in the neighborhood,” said Nicole Davia, a Whole Foods senior vice president.

Whole Foods’ Daily Shops are the latest effort by grocery sellers “to squeeze supermarket operations into smaller spaces that cater to ‘fill-in’ shoppers. Some supermarket chains have struggled to operate smaller locations as a result of slim profit margins and the smaller operations’ sometimes-challenging logistics,” reported WSJ.

Fill-in shopping, where consumers make frequent trips but buy only a few items, is on the rise, according to Placer.ai. Consumers made 11% more trips to grocery stores in the 12 months ending in October compared with 2019, while spending less time during a visit according to Placer.ai.

“The small-format stores can save operators money by focusing on core products, experts said. They can also be cheaper and quicker to open, allowing grocers to expand in urban areas where real estate or construction costs are high,” wrote WSJ.

Whole Foods said its first Daily Shop in Manhattan has exceeded sales projections every week since opening. The chain will open four more Daily Shop stores in New York City and will bring the format to Washington, D.C., in mid-2025, according to a spokesperson.