The Whole Foods Effect

[min-chi-cbus]

Originally Posted by Chef

Whole foods has had a hard time in the Minneapolis market because the city is already saturated with co-ops and has two high end local grocery store chains. They don't offer anything that can't be gotten elsewhere. Their only store in the city is in a strip mall in a not very urban area, so no Whole Foods effect here.

What?! Whole Foods has 5 or 6 stores in the metro area and 2 in the city of Minneapolis: one in West Calhoun, and the other being built downtown in the North Loop area (the fastest-growing neighborhood downtown). They've also built one in Edina very close to Byerly's, Target and Cub (not to mention a Trader Joe's that is ALSO being built nearby), and are building another one in Maple Grove in the Arbor Lakes development.

In NONE of these locations is Whole Foods not busy and wildly popular, and most of them are rapidly-growing areas of town or are prime for redevelopment (Edina and downtown). If they weren't doing well in the Twin Cities, there wouldn't be 3 new stores under construction as we speak...

[MNMike]

I think part of what Chef meant is that it took them a long time to break in to the market for those reasons...which I actually saw mentioned in a recent interview with Whole Foods reps. For the longest time there were only 2 in this entire market, until the past year or two.

[Columbusite]

Oh wow, so that's what's going onto the NW corner of Washington and Hennepin. And then there's that new Lunds down the street too in/close to Loring Park.

[zilfondel]

The Portland metro area has 7 Whole Foods. I live 4 blocks from one, and its a great market. I do end up paying a bit more than a big-box grocery store, but not that much. Some staples are overpriced, others are reasonable. I avoid buying the overpriced items. However, there are other markets in the city that are far more expensive, or offer a higher quality deli or butcher.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

The Portland metro area has 7 Whole Foods. I live 4 blocks from one, and its a great market. I do end up paying a bit more than a big-box grocery store, but not that much. Some staples are overpriced, others are reasonable. I avoid buying the overpriced items. However, there are other markets in the city that are far more expensive, or offer a higher quality deli or butcher.

yeah like zupans!! that place is a ripoff....wow, portland has 7 whole foods? i had no idea. im in NW so were pretty close to the pearl one. i used to be by the east burnside one and that place was always busy. those skinny liberal arts yoga chicks cant get enough of that rice milk and tofutti cutis. actually tofutti cutis are pretty good though.....

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Yeah, you're right. I wonder if the wonderful Wegmans will ever make an entry into NYC, since they are a NY-based company and are in NY, PA, NJ.

Wegmans is THE best big box format grocery store. Period. Ask any Buffalo or Rochester expat a list of things they miss about their hometown and Wegmans will rank high up on the list. I wish I had the money to convince them to franchise in Canada! lol

[Wigs]

I've never been in a Whole Foods but a lot of people seem to say it should be called 'Whole Wallet'

[Chef]

Originally Posted by MNMike

I think part of what Chef meant is that it took them a long time to break in to the market for those reasons...which I actually saw mentioned in a recent interview with Whole Foods reps. For the longest time there were only 2 in this entire market, until the past year or two.

Also I was talking about Minneapolis proper. There is only one Whole Foods currently operating in the the city. Lunds/Byerleys and Kowalskis already do the upscale supermarket very well. The co-ops are very organized, they run their own collective wholesale operation that also sells to restaurants. This gives them the volume and economies of scale of a supermarket chain. I buy from their wholesaler; their produce catalogue is massive, organic, and local whenever possible, they own their own farms. So it isn't exactly a wide open market for Whole Foods.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by WIGS

I've never been in a Whole Foods but a lot of people seem to say it should be called 'Whole Wallet'

thats funny. or whole in your wallet. we call it whole paycheck out here. i don't really have a beef with them, i just dont shop there. my hippy, vegetarian girlfriend seems to think its awesome however so what do i know?? their produce is ok but we have better and cheaper options in portland. beer selection is so-so and for being in the nw, they don't carry alot of nw beers. their bakery is fffn good though. the tiramisu cake is expensive but holy shit, its awesome. it will be interesting to see how it goes over in detroit. i haven't lived there since the late 90's so im sure alot has changed and new center was always a bit better off then some other parts of town. now for some comic relief...."whole foods is corporatttte!".....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3nMnr8ZirI

[min-chi-cbus]

Originally Posted by MNMike

I think part of what Chef meant is that it took them a long time to break in to the market for those reasons...which I actually saw mentioned in a recent interview with Whole Foods reps. For the longest time there were only 2 in this entire market, until the past year or two.

Oh alright, interesting. However, the Twin Cities is one of THE last markets most companies enter because it's traditionally been a difficult market for businesses to break. I don't know exactly why that is, but in two places I've lived (Columbus and Minneapolis), the latter was hard to enter and had essentially nothing new, while Columbus was one of the easiest and seemed to try anything and everything.

[MplsTodd]

Originally Posted by min-chi-cbus

Oh alright, interesting. However, the Twin Cities is one of THE last markets most companies enter because it's traditionally been a difficult market for businesses to break. I don't know exactly why that is, but in two places I've lived (Columbus and Minneapolis), the latter was hard to enter and had essentially nothing new, while Columbus was one of the easiest and seemed to try anything and everything.

One reason for retailer's reluctance to enter the Twin Cities market is our high property taxes on commercial uses. Minnesota is unique in that commercial uses pay notably higher property tax rates than residential uses. Given the slim margins of retailers, that extra amount for real estate taxes has discouraged several firms from locating in the Twin Cities. The other factor though is that there is a lot of home-grown competition. As Chef noted, the Twin Cities has a large well-established network of food co-ops that have a very loyal patronage.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by McBane

This is such a ridiculous article, excuse for me not reading the whole thing.

The article begins with an implication that Whole Foods' entrance into the Detroit market is a forecast for an up and coming neighborhood. Okay, sounds like Detroit is really gaining steam.
...
Whole Foods doesn't cause gentrification. It seems that it just has a "riskier" expansion MO than the typical corporation (who never ever invest in up and coming areas). But does that part of Detroit meet Whole Food's criterion described above? Or did the company brush those standards aside in the face of $4m in public funding?

$4 million isn't going to induce a company to open a grocery store that in a location that can't support it. It will tip them off the fence if they were already seriously considering it, but it won't get from from "no way" to on the fence, let alone from "no way" to "yes."

Detroit certainly has kernels of success and growth among the large swaths of decline and decay.

Here in Chicago Whole Foods seems to have come in two waves. First, in neighborhoods that are stable, relatively affluent, and primed to explode in popularity. We had the River North store and the West Lakeview and the original west Lincoln Park stores representing that stage. Then there are Whole Foods that were added to supplement demand after an area exploded, two examples of which are the East Lakeview store, and the brand new third-biggest-in-the-world store that replaced the original west Lincoln Park store. The South Loop store is sort of in the middle - added after the area started to take off, but in an edge of where the development hadn't really reached full steam.

[MNMike]

Isn't Columbus known as being "America's test market"?

[Columbusite]

As far as fast food/chains it is (progressive urbanism not so much, which is why Whole Foods and almost every grocery store in the city comes with a suburban design).

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by someone123

I'm talking about a place that at least has produce, meat, dairy, and baked goods. There are a bunch of single stores or small chains in Vancouver (Meinhardt, Stong's, Choices) and then there's Capers (which I think was either bought by Whole Foods or was always Whole Foods) and Urban Fare. There might be others.

In Halifax there's a local chain called Pete's which as far as I can tell occupies exactly the same niche as Whole Foods. Maybe these chains are less common in the US because Whole Foods expanded earlier and more aggressively there.

Does Brooklyn have a better variety of grocery stores? It is more comparable to the sorts of neighbourhoods that have these other places. I've always figured everybody in Manhattan just eats out all the time.

Caper's was Vancouver local based and than bought out by Wild Oats in the 90's or early 2000's which was based out of Colorado and was Whole Foods competitor until Whole Foods Bought them out sometime in the 2000's

there is a small chain out of Edmonton called Planet Organic - the only LM location i know of is in Coquitlam it's very small though but seems popular enough to stay in business

[BevoLJ]

Whole Foods opened a big new store yesterday in Piccadilly Circus. Unfortunately it is replacing the one near my office in Soho. I haven't seen the new one in Piccadilly yet, but it is supposed to be awesome.

They also have a small one a few blocks from my flat in Camden. Which is good because honestly I'd rather not have to go to the Piccadilly one all the time. It is the wrong way for me. And there are so many great options around where my flat is in Camden.

I would love for them to have a huge one in London like the two story one they have in their HQ in downtown Austin. That place is amazing. It is HUGE and has everything you could ever think of.

[mhays]

Good lord, if you live in Camden or work in Soho what the hell are you doing shopping at a supermarket?!

[BevoLJ]

Lol. Well being from Austin, London is a lot for me. It is huge and so many people! And Whole Foods a little touch of home in a whole other world. It is something familiar to me if that makes sense. =)

But the one in Camden really isn't much of a supermarket. It is more like a more expensive Trader Joes. At least in size. But you are right, there are like a gazillion totally awesome little shops and markets and what have you everywhere. It is fantastic! =)

It is still fun to visit Whole Foods and can't wait to see their new store in Piccadilly. It is something I can be proud of from Austin. Or just I thought of something, maybe it is like supporting and being proud of something local even if it is from the other side of the pond. lol.

[mhays]

Ok, I go to Starbucks nearly every day when I'm in England. Kind of the same thing.

[Kenneth]

The location that the store is being built is known for lots of homeless and derilects. I used to live a couple of miles from there. I'm actuallly moving back there from ATL. The area is really mixed with all types of residences, it is near the DMC, WSU and Music Hall. There was a store there previously that was on the same order as a whole foods and it closed. I hope a large enough store is built, Detroit is known for getting scaled back big box stores. This might just work out if they put into it what they put into the suburban locations. The unfortunate thing is that there is not other stores around it and I'm wondering if the residents in the area can afford to shop at the store.