The location preferred by the world's largest natural foods chain remains a well-guarded secret. In fact, Whole Foods spokeswoman Kate Lowery would not even acknowledge the company is scouting for sites in Utah. She said new-store plans are revealed during earnings announcements, the next of which is scheduled for July 31.

But Melissa Morse of Site Reach, a small commercial real estate company in Salt Lake City that said it has been assisting Whole Foods in Utah, said Wednesday the Austin-based retailer is trying to finalize a deal on a site near downtown for a new store that would open in 2008.

She said the company, which also plans to open its first Idaho location in Boise, has ruled out the Sugar House area of Salt Lake City. Speculation in the commercial real estate community had pointed to Sugar House as Whole Foods' choice as its first Utah location.

Speculation about Whole Foods and Utah has been circulating for some time.

"Whole Foods has been trying to find the right site in Utah for eight years," Morse said. "They want to make sure their first Utah store is a home-run location, so they have been really careful."

Chris Gentzkow, a retail specialist with CB Richard Ellis, said it is not surprising that Whole Foods has been looking at Utah.

"The organic trend is on fire right now," he said. "These specialty grocers are going to be popping up everywhere."

He figures that Whole Foods probably will choose a location along the area of 400 South and 500 South between downtown and 1300 East.

"It would be nice to know exactly where they are going to land," he said.

Commercial brokers say Utah's first Whole Foods store would raise the state's profile among retailers nationally, just as the popular Swedish furniture retailer IKEA did when it announced plans to open its first store in Utah next year.

Utah is largely surrounded by states with Whole Foods stores - Arizona, Colorado, California, New Mexico and Oregon.

Whole Foods employs about 39,000 people at 183 locations in North America and the United Kingdom and at several distribution centers. It is known as an aggressive competitor to other specialty grocers such as Wild Oats, which has five Utah locations - 645 E. 400 South, 1131 E. Wilmington Ave., and 6930 S. Highland Drive in Salt Lake City, as well as stores in West Jordan's Jordan Landing development and in Park City.

Whole Foods is in a major expansion mode and is increasing the size of its stores. For years, it has built stores averaging about 32,000 square feet. It has plans to build 50,000-square-foot stores and even opened an 80,000-square-foot super store earlier this year in Austin, going head to head with the popular Central Market chain. In numerous states, Whole Foods has opened stores near competitors.

Whole Foods' desire to open in Utah and Idaho undoubtedly stems from the strong population and employment growth in both states. Utah also is starting to show signs of income growth and is experiencing an in-migration of people from other parts of the country, including California.

Many retailers like to expand in metropolitan areas with a population of at least 2 million. The population of the four main Wasatch Front counties - Salt Lake, Utah, Davis and Weber counties - is about at that level, according to state population estimates.

In addition to IKEA, other high-profile retailers that have decided to expand in Utah include Apple Store, which opened a small outlet late last year in the Gateway shopping center in downtown Salt Lake City. Another big development was the huge Cabela's hunting and fishing superstore that opened in Lehi last summer.

Whole Foods spokeswoman Lowery said the retailer considers a variety of factors when deciding where to open new stores but generally seeks areas with populations of at least 200,000 that have a "high concentration" of college graduates.

"Salt Lake City is a very attractive market for Whole Foods Market," Lowery said. "It is an area we have been studying for a very long time and we hope to be able to bring the experience of Whole Foods Market to your area in the future."

lesley@sltrib.com