Exhibit 12.1
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Whole Foods Market, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges
Fiscal Year End (1)
Sep 27 Sep 28 Sep 29 Sep 24 Sep 25
1998 1997 1996 1995 1994
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Earnings:
Income (loss) before income taxes $72,056 39,368 (14,119) 11,083 8,867
Interest expense 7,685 6,044 4,671 2,368 127
Rental expense representative of interest 11,727 9,620 8,145 6,370 4,795
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Total available earnings 91,468 55,032 (1,303) 19,821 13,789
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Fixed charges
Interest, including capitalized interest 8,420 6,814 5,854 3,177 499
Rental expense representative of interest 11,727 9,620 8,145 6,370 4,795
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Total fixed charges $20,147 16,434 13,999 9,547 5,294
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Ratio of available earnings to fixed charges (2) 4.54x 3.35x -- 2.08x 2.60x
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(1) Fiscal years 1998, 1997, 1995 and 1994 are 52-week years and fiscal year
1996 is a 53-week year.
(2) For the fiscal year ended September 29, 1996, earnings were inadequate to
cover fixed charges in the amount of $15.3 million.