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KAHULUI - Whole Foods Market is looking for about 140 employees to staff its new Maui Mall store, according to Ray Stockton, who will manage the store expected to open in late February.

The store will take the place vacated by Star Market. The new jobs should provide a boost to Maui's flagging employment; the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations reported joblessness at 9 percent for the island in October, nearly 60 percent higher than Maui's 5.5 percent unemployment in October 2008.

The Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods is conducting a "total, complete store hiring," said Stockton, who added that jobs include staff for the store's produce, bakery, meats and seafoods sections, as well as courtesy and checkout clerks.

The company is advertising the jobs online. One ad says: "At Whole Foods Market, we empower our team members to make their own decisions, thus creating an environment where people are treated with respect and are highly motivated to excel."

The company says it fills management positions from its existing employee base and has training programs to help workers advance their careers. The company offers a benefits package that includes medical coverage, a 401k plan and a 20 percent discount at Whole Foods stores. Prospective employees can apply online at www.wholefoodsmarket. com/careers. Applications need to be completed by mid-December.

The online applications will be used as a database and an initial-screening process for an invitation-only job fair at the new store on Jan. 6 and 7.

Construction of the 26,366-square-foot natural and organic foods supermarket has been completed, Stockton said.

"It's just a matter of stocking and staffing it," he said.

The store will be buying Maui-grown produce and meat, he said.

"We're looking forward to contributing to the island of Maui," Stockton said.

The store's first market in Hawaii opened at the Kahala Mall on Oahu in September 2008.

The chain has two other stores planned for Oahu - one at the Ward Village Shops, expected to open next fall; and a store in Kailua town in windward Oahu, expected to open in fall 2011.