Whole Foods Market is bringing its gouda and berry chantilly cake back to Encinitas.
Jones Lang LaSalle, which handles leasing for the Encinitas Marketplace shopping center at North El Camino Real and Via Molena, announced Whole Foods Market’s arrival in a brochure.
The store’s opening is part of a $10 million facelift that will transform the center’s look over the next 24 months, according to LJJ. Whole Foods Market, in the space emptied by Kohl’s last year, will anchor the 124,411-square-foot shopping center. It has five other retail openings: a 22,200-square-foot space and four smaller ones. The mall recently added a Verizon store.
This is one of three Whole Foods Markets planned for San Diego County. Stores are also heading to Carmel Mountain Ranch and downtown. While the Carmel Mountain store was recently announced, the downtown store has been in the works since 2024 and there are no updates on that location, a Whole Foods Market representative said in an email last month.
San Diego is getting a new Whole Foods Market
The Encinitas center, which opened in 1981, was sold in 2019 for $43 million, according to CoStar.
Encinitas had a Whole Foods Market for several years. It opened in 2011 but shut down in 2017. That store, in a mixed use development on South Coast Hwy 101, faced lagging sales and was one of nine to close nationwide as the chain — months shy of its acquisition by Amazon — faced new competition from Walmart and other conventional grocers.
Whole Foods struggles: Encinitas location to close
With this Whole Foods, the mall returns to its roots: grocery.
Staff writer Jennifer Van Grove contributed to this report.

Today at EPCOT, we spotted a photoshoot hpening, not for a celebrity but for an ear headband. The headband has a chef’s hat with grhics of food items, leading us to believe they are cturing promotional merchandise photos and video for EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 2026.
Near Spaceship Earth at EPCOT, a group of Disney Cast Members was seen taking photos and video of the headband against the backdrop of the park’s iconic geodesic sphere.
A close-up of the ear headband shows a chef’s hat in the center with cartoon artwork of food items. Donald can also be seen on one of the ears.
This was the headband for Food & Wine Festival 2025, which was part of the Chef Mickey Mouse Collection. It features the art of Donald on an empanada and Mickey riding a scooter across spaghetti on the ears, with a contrasting maroon headband and pink bow.
The 2026 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival at Walt Disney World runs from August 27 through November 21, 2026
See our full guide for the 2025 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.

Costco reduced the prices of several items during the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ended in late May.
It’s the third time in a row that Costco has announced price drops during a quarterly earnings call.
In December 2025, the brand shared that it had lowered prices on items like chicken pot pie, bacon and whipped cream. In March, Costco lowered prices on food items like butter and coconut water.
Our goal is to be the first to lower prices where we see opportunities to do so, Gary Millerchip, Costco’s chief financial officer, said in the most recent earnings call.
Here’s which Kirkland Signature food products just got cheer.
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Costco lowered prices on these items
These Kirkland Signature products got cheer, according to the company’s most recent earnings call:
Crispy Wings: dropped from $16.99 to $14.49
Milk Chocolate Almonds: dropped from $19.99 to $18.99
Golf Ball: dropped from $32.99 to $29.99
Sheets (King): dropped from $89.99 to $79.99
Order for delivery with Instacart

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered an escalated response to the reemergence of the New World screwworm, activating the State Emergency Operations Center at Level II and mobilizing all available state resources as officials race to contain the parasitic pest now detected inside the state.
The move directs the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to coordinate a multi-agency response, bringing together animal health, agriculture and public health officials to prevent further spread.
The stakes stretch far beyond Texas. The New World screwworm poses a direct threat to livestock production—particularly cattle—and could disrupt supply chains if infestations spread, forcing quarantines or limiting animal movement. Because Texas is the nation’s top cattle-producing state, officials have warned that an outbreak could tighten already strained supply, drive up beef prices and ripple through broader food distribution systems nationwide.
Read More on U.S.
A widening screwworm outbreak could also intersect with broader global supply risks, including volatility tied to key shipping routes like the Strait of Hormuz. While the parasite itself threatens domestic livestock production, any concurrent disruption in global energy flows through the Strait, which handles a significant share of the world’s oil shipments, can drive up transportation and fuel costs.
Those increases typically cascade through agricultural supply chains, raising costs for feed, processing and distribution. In a worst-case scenario, overlping pressures from a livestock pest outbreak and higher shipping or fuel costs could compound price spikes and logistical strain across the United States’ food system, particularly for beef and other protein products already sensitive to supply shocks.
Screwworm Symptoms in Humans: What We Know
Although the parasite primarily affects animals, human cases can occur in areas where the flies are present.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the New World screwworm infection begins when a female fly lays eggs in an open wound or body opening, such as the nose, ears or mouth.
Symptoms can include:
Painful wounds that worsen quickly
A foul-smelling site of infection
Visible larvae (maggots) in or around the wound
Sensation of movement under the skin
The larvae feed on living tissue, which can lead to severe damage if not treated promptly.
Health officials emphasize that while human risk in the U.S. remains low, exposure is possible in areas where the flies are circulating, particularly for individuals with untreated wounds.
Why Is Screwworm Back in the US?
The current threat is tied to a broader outbreak that has steadily advanced north through the Americas over the past several years.
The parasite is endemic in parts of South America and the Caribbean.
Since 2023, it has spread across Central America and into Mexico.
Recent detections in northern Mexico brought the pest within miles of the U.S. border before it was confirmed in Texas in June 2026.
Experts say the spread has been fueled by both the migration of flies and the movement of infected animals, allowing the parasite to le long distances.
The detection in Texas marks the parasite’s return after decades of eradication in the United States, prompting renewed emergency measures and containment strategies similar to those used in the mid-20th century.
Florida has also moved to tighten biosecurity, enacting emergency rules that bar the import of any warm‑blooded animals from screwworm-infested zones until June 10, according to state agriculture officials, underscoring growing concern about cross-state spread.
How Screwworms and Botflies Differ
While both screwworms and botflies are parasites that can infest animals—and in rare cases humans—they behave in significantly different ways.
New World screwworm:
Targets open wounds on living animals
Larvae aggressively burrow into and consume healthy tissue
Infestations can ridly worsen and become fatal if untreated
Botflies (general comparison):
Typically deposit larvae on intact skin or through insect vectors
Often create localized infestations rather than ridly expanding wounds
Usually less destructive to surrounding tissue
A key distinction highlighted by experts is that screwworm larvae feed on living tissue, whereas many other fly larvae, including common species, feed only on dead or decaying material.
What Does the Emergency Response Do?
Abbott said the state is deploying the full use of all state resources to stop the pest.
With the emergency response now fully activated, officials say early detection and rid containment will be critical to preventing wider spread and minimizing potential disruptions to livestock production and the U.S. food supply.
“The protection of our ranchers, livestock producers, deer breeders, and the Texas economy from this pest is a top priority,” Abbott said in a press release issued Monday. “We have eradicated this pest before, and we will do it again in close cooperation with our federal partners.”
“Texans should stay alert, check animals daily for wounds, and report any suspected cases immediately,” he urged.
Activation of the State Emergency Operations Center at Level II centralizes Texas’ response, allowing officials to ridly deploy resources, coordinate across agencies and streamline decision-making as new cases emerge.
The move brings together key partners to manage surveillance, containment and public guidance, including the Texas Animal Health Commission, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas Department of State Health Services.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — A Summerville woman was arrested after authorities say she fraudulently obtained more than $75,000 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SN, benefits.
Timesha Fleming, 34, was charged with fraudulent acquisition or use of food stamps valued at $10,000 or more, according to the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
The alleged crimes occurred between August 2020 and November, according to an arrest warrant.
Documents claim she failed to report her husband’s income while they were living together, acquiring $76,502 in benefits she would not have qualified for if she accurately reported her household’s income.
Fleming was booked into the L.C. Knight Detention Center on Friday and released the same day, according to jail records.