EARLY DAYS
Whole Foods: Slumming It in Aisle 3
It was 1978, and college dropout John Mackey had been living in a vegetarian co-op in Austin when he and his girlfriend, Renee Lawson Hardy, decided to open a small natural-foods store. They were 25 and 21, respectively, and borrowed $45,000 to get their dream off the ground. Calling their venture Safer Way, the couple
