"We have stores signed and in our pipeline to meet that range and we have confidence it will happen." says Jim Sud, executive vice president of growth and business development. "We're starting to see more opportunities in the real estate arena in terms of better pricing, in terms of rent. We're hopeful that the silver lining in what appears to be a recession will result in lower construction costs." Six of the new stores will be in new markets: Portland, OR, Kansas City, MO, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Albuquerque and Las Vegas.

Sud and other Whole Foods executives addressed the Austin-based company's plans Wednesday in a conference call about its financial results. With 130 stores, the company is the largest retailer of natural and organic foods.

John Mackey, the company's CEO, says Whole Foods stores will continue to get bigger than the current 35,000-sf model and could approach 70,000 sf. Becoming familiar with big stores was one reason Whole Foods bought several Atlanta-based Harry's Farmers Market stores earlier this year. The transaction closed two weeks ago.