Whole Foods Closes 6 More Stores After Customer Tries Blueberry Without Paying For It

AUSTIN, TX—Ascribing the decision to prioritizing the safety of the chain’s employees and customers, grocery retailer Whole Foods announced Thursday that they would be closing 6 more stores across the country after a customer tried a blueberry without paying for it. “If someone takes even one more blueberry, we’ll be forced to permanently shut down every Whole Foods on the West Coast,” said CEO Jason Buechel, who confirmed the company would be closing stores in San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle due to the incident in which the berry was sampled at a location in Boston. “When we first opened these locations many months ago, we never envisioned that someone might decide to stick their fingers into a carton and try a berry without paying for it. We understand this might affect shoppers, but unfortunately, we are not equipped to deal with this kind of chaos. We’re simply not capable of weathering these kinds of losses.” At press time, the company confirmed that going forward, their remaining locations would not sell produce at all.