NEW YORK — Customers lined up around the block in the rain last week for a chance to buy limited-edition designer shopping bags at the Whole Foods at Columbus Circle here. British designer Anya Hindmarch created the $15 canvas bags to call attention to the impact of plastic bags on the environment, according to information on Whole Foods' website. Long lines also were reported at other Whole Foods locations in the new York-New Jersey area, where the bags were sold for the first time in U.S. retail stores. The bags previously sold out at Sainsbury's in the U.K., and sales were discontinued in some Asian markets because of concerns for customer safety amid the crush of bag-buyers.
