A new Whole Foods may be coming to the Western Addition - unless Target gets in the way



Click through this slideshow to see which is cheaper: Whole Foods' new low prices or Trader Joe's. A new Whole Foods location may be coming to San Francisco.

Click through this slideshow to see which is cheaper: Whole Foods' new low prices or Trader Joe's. A new Whole Foods location may be coming to San Francisco. Photo: Will Waldron, Albany Times Union Buy photo Photo: Will Waldron, Albany Times Union Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close A new Whole Foods may be coming to the Western Addition - unless Target gets in the way 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

UPDATE: Whole Foods has corrected its statement to SFGATE. They do not have a lease for the City Center location.

Whole Foods has plans to open a new San Francisco location at Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue.

That is, unless another major retailer gets in the way.

Target may be trying to stop the grocery chain from moving into City Center in the Western Addition, according to Reuters, because it fears competition. As the mall's biggest tenant, Target can influence who else occupies the property.

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Reuters reports that negotiations between Whole Foods and Target are ongoing, but Whole Foods may be forced to make concessions if it wants the new location.

Target may be threatened by Whole Foods' expansion into selling non-grocery items. After it was acquired by Amazon, the grocery store started to carry the Amazon Echo in stores.

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Amazon also announced it would add lockers to select Whole Foods locations, allowing online shoppers to pick up their Amazon purchases while grocery shopping.

That new feature may have to be dropped from the planned Western Addition location in order for the deal to move forward.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.