"We have a stated long-term growth goal of $10 billion in sales by the year 2010," said co-founder, CEO and chairman John Mackey during the company's earnings conference call, adding that Whole Food's 2004 numbers are going to be tough acts to follow. "We produced above-average increases in sales, comps and earnings per share in 2004 of 23%, 15% and 26%, and will, therefore, face difficult comparisons in 2005, particularly in the second quarter of the year."

For the rest of the year, in fact, Mackey said the company is expecting lower comps. "For the fiscal year, we expect sales growth of 15% to 20%, driven by comparable store sales growth of 8% to 10%," he noted. "We do not expect the same level of year-over-year increases in sales and earnings produced in the first quarter to continue throughout the year."

In the quarter just ended, the company opened three new stores, finishing with a total of 166 in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. "Our new store in Sarasota is the first downtown grocery store in that community in 50 years," said Mackey. The company's new store in Hingham, MA, a Boston suburb, features a 100-seat café and seafood from the company's waterfront facility in Gloucester, MA. In Redwood City, CA, the new Whole Foods is part of a newly revitalized downtown.