Nov 16, 2004 10:52 AM, from staff and wire reports

Austin TX-based Whole Foods Market has agreed to a 10-year lease with owners of a 93,558-square-foot warehouse and cold storage center in Vernon CA.

The natural and organic food retailer, which has 162 stores in the United States and United Kingdom, will use the entire facility as its Southern California produce distribution warehouse.

This building is more than double the size of the retailer’s current 41,500-sq-ft warehouse and provides almost 35,000 square feet of refrigerated cooler space. It will distribute to 23 stores in Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona.