In 1978, John Mackey and Renee Lawson borrowed $45,000 from family and friends to open a small vegetarian natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin, Texas (the name being a spoof of Safeway). When the two were evicted for storing food products in their apartment, they decided to live at the store. Because it was zoned for commercial use, there was no shower stall, so they bathed using a water hose attached to their dishwasher.[9][10][11] Two years later, Mackey and Lawson partnered with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles to merge SaferWay with the latter\'s Clarksville Natural Grocery, resulting in the opening of the original Whole Foods Market, which included meat products. At 10,500 square feet (980 m2) and with a staff of 19, the store was large in comparison to the standard health food store of the time.[12] On May 25, 1981, the most damaging flood in 70 years devastated Austin. Whole Foods\' inventory was ruined, and most of the equipment was damaged. The loss was approximately $400,000 and Whole Foods Market had no insurance. Customers, neighbors, and staff assisted to repair and clean up the damage. Creditors, vendors and investors assisted the recovery, and the store reopened 28 days later.[12] Expansion The Whole Foods Market on Bowery, in Manhattan, is the largest grocery store in New York City.[13] The produce department of a new Whole Foods Market located in the Southern Hills area of Tulsa, Oklahoma A Bread & Circus and Whole Foods bakery Beginning in 1984, Whole Foods Market expanded from Austin, first to Houston and Dallas and then to New Orleans with the purchase of The Whole Food Co. in 1988. In 1989, the company expanded to the West Coast with a store in Palo Alto, California. The company made its initial public offering on January 23, 1992.[14] While opening new stores, the company fueled rapid growth by acquiring other natural foods chains throughout the 1990s: Wellspring Grocery of North Carolina, Bread & Circus of Massachusetts and Rhode Island (banner retired in 2003), Mrs. Gooch\'s Natural Foods Markets of Los Angeles,[15] Bread of Life of Northern California, Fresh Fields Markets on the East Coast and in the Midwest, Florida Bread of Life stores, Detroit-area Merchant of Vino stores, and Nature\'s Heartland of Boston.[16] The company purchased Allegro Coffee Company in 1997.[17] The company\'s 100th store was opened in Torrance, California, in 1999.[18] The company started its third decade with additional acquisitions. The first was Natural Abilities in 2000, which did business as Food for Thought in Northern California.[19] After the departure of then company president Chris Hitt and regional president Rich Cundiff, Southern California region, John Mackey promoted A. C. Gallo, president of the Northeast region and Walter Robb, president of the Northern California region to co-COO and soon after added the titles of co-president. This led to the promotion of three new regional presidents and a new era for the company. David Lannon became president of the Northeast region, Anthony Gilmore became president of the Southwest region, Ron Megehan became president of the Northern California region. In 2001, Whole Foods also moved into Manhattan.[20] Later that year, Ken Meyer became president of the newly formed South region and Whole Foods Market acquired the assets of Harry\'s Farmers Market, which included three stores in Atlanta.[21] In 2002, the company continued its expansion in North America and opened its first store in Toronto, Ontario.[22] Further continuing its expansion, Select Fish of Seattle was acquired in 2003.[23] In late 2004, it was reported that Whole Foods had \"cleared $188 million in profits in the last two years.\"[24] In 2005, Whole Foods opened its 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2) flagship store in downtown Austin. The company\'s headquarters moved into offices above the store.[25] Whole Foods opened its first store in Hawaii in 2008[26] and in 2008 it also opened a southeast distribution center in Braselton, Georgia, calling it the first \"green distribution center\" for the company.[27]