Biography|John Mackey — The Memorial Day Flood That Almost Closed the Only Store

Memorial Day in 1981 fell on Monday, 25 May.

About ten inches of rain fell on Austin in a day.

Shoal Creek left its banks.

Thirteen people died.

City damage was later put near $36 million.

The eight-month-old Whole Foods on North Lamar sat in a low stretch of the 900 block.

Staff stacked sandbags around the only store the company had.

The water came over them.

Inventory spoiled in the aisles.

Later reporting put the stock loss near $400,000.

The store had no flood insurance.

It had no warehouse and almost no cash.

Neighbors, customers, and the 19-person staff hauled ruined goods into the parking lot.

City National Bank in Austin then extended a $100,000 loan on Mackey's signature.

The store reopened 28 days after the flood.

Without that reopening there is no public company.

There is no flagship down the street.

There is no 2017 sale.

The building that flooded is no longer a grocery.

The intersection of Tenth and Lamar is still the low point on the boulevard.

A visitor can stand here and see how little elevation sits between the pavement and Shoal Creek.

The company later made a point of lending to other flooded Austin businesses.

That habit started with the week the only store went under.

Photo: Joe M500, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (John Mackey, 2009).