Quote:
Originally Posted by ttownfeen
Ok, let's say 1/3 of the student population and 5% of the non-student population would be regular customers of a Whole Foods. 1/3 of 32k + 5% of 160,000 is less than 20,000. Would that be enough of a market for them? Keep in mind that the entire Birmingham market of 1 million only has one store.
I wonder if my friend didn't mean Earth Fare, which has a location in Opelika.
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They have a store in Bend, OR which is similar in size to Tuscaloosa minus a major university. My home county has three Whole Foods Markets with a population of 1.3 million and might get a few more. One of our Whole Foods is located in a shopping center attached to Florida Atlantic University and is meant for the students there to use as their main grocery store.
When I lived in Portland some of the Whole Foods there seemed redundant with other locations in close by neighborhoods but they still managed to stay in business so I don't see why it couldn't work in Tuscaloosa. There is an untapped market for healthier foods in town especially with a growing % of out of state students who don't want to eat unhealthy fried / fast food chain food. Manna Grocery is nice, but it's overpriced. I've even heard of people driving to Atlanta for Trader Joe's. After living in Tuscaloosa for the past two years I feel like it does not have enough restaurants or retail so a Whole Foods would be a welcome addition.