Really, Really Big Whole Foods to Open in Austin

[Fat Guy]

http://www.wholefoods.com/company/pr_06-05-03.html

"The landmark 80,000 square foot store will take up the entire block between Fifth and Sixth Streets and Bowie Street and Lamar Blvd. To be completed in early 2005, it will be Whole Foods Market's largest store and will exhibit exciting new features as yet to be seen in the retail world. Austin residents also will enjoy a community and education center suitable for meetings and cooking demonstrations, a 25,000 square-foot public roof garden and plaza area for eating and entertainment, as well as three-levels of underground parking with escalators equipped to carry grocery carts from the parking garage to the store."

[Jason Perlow]

crikey.

[cdh]

Yikes! I used to live 2 blocks west of there on 6th at West Lynn. The old Whole Foods at 6th and Lamar was pretty nice itself, but nowhere near 80,000sq ft. That is a new wrinkle in the development plan for those blocks too... I'm excited to hear that they're going in the foodie direction... I'd thought they were putting in a Target there... won't be missed if it isn't... Austin is still the best raw-ingredients food shopping town I can think of... sure in NYC you can get a better range of prepared products, but for raw ingredients, Austin wins, hands down. I guess this is what competition from two Central Markets brings? A giant Whole Foods smack-dab in-between them?

[NewYorkTexan]

The new store will be at the base and there will be an office tower above which will house WF’s corporate offices. The current controversy is that there will be a Barnes & Noble as part of the complex. They would compete with BookPeople across the street, which is a huge independent bookstore. Since the developer of this project will receive tax incentives, the argument is that tax breaks will be used to hurt a local business.

The new larger Whole Foods will be a welcome addition to the downtown scene.

[foodie52]

Didn't Barnes and Noble bow out?

BTW, Whole Foods isn't really in competition with Central Market...two totally different concepts.

[Jaymes]

Didn't  Barnes and Noble bow out?

Actually, guys, it was a Borders - not a Barnes & Noble.

They did back out, citing the economy and decreased sales at their other Austin outlets.

Also, they said, the concept of the project has changed and no longer fits their needs. Now, they say, it is going to be "primarily a headquarters for Whole Foods."

However, it is true that the anti-Borders faction mounted a pretty strenuous campaign of harassing fax and email and telephone and snail mail messages against them, although they said that had nothing to do with their corporate decisions.

But whatever the reason, it currently does look like there will be no large chain book/video/record store going into that location in the immediate future.

Edited June 8, 2003 by Jaymes (log)

[NewYorkTexan]

Didn't  Barnes and Noble bow out?

Actually, guys, it was a Borders - not a Barnes & Noble.

Maybe it would be helpful if I start reading the Austin Stateman before crumbling it up and using it for the bbq chimney starter.

[Jaymes]

Didn't  Barnes and Noble bow out?

Actually, guys, it was a Borders - not a Barnes & Noble.

Maybe it would be helpful if I start reading the Austin Stateman before crumbling it up and using it for the bbq chimney starter.

That's right David. You've got to KEEP UP!

[foodie52]

Hmmmm...remembering last Thursday night, I recall that David keeps up pretty well.

[cdh]

BTW, Whole Foods isn't really in competition with Central Market...two totally different concepts.

What do you mean they're not in competiton? My weekly shopping jaunts in Austin took me to four places- Whole Foods (for bacon, chocolate, loose tea, sometimes fish, sometimes cheese, and occasionally produce), CM (for the sheer joy of wandering around there and letting inspiration guide me), Fiesta (same reasons as CM + the cheeeep wine selection... mmmmmm slovenian merlot for $3.99 a bottle... and Montecillo Reserva for $9/bottle (for a brief shining while)) and Sun Harvest (or whatever it was called) for bulk stuff and good beers. WF was too pricey to be a one-stop for me, but if they had something interesting looking, and were asking a price that didn't shock my conscience I'd buy and constrain my inspiration at CM and F.

The market I'm considering is the market for high quality good food. They're totally in competition there. How would you segment the market to take them out of competition with each other?

[claire797]

Hmmmm...remembering last Thursday night, I recall that David keeps up pretty well.

You are out of control.

[foodie52]

[foodie52]

But seriously.....

Correct me if I am wrong, all of you out there....WF and CM cater to two very different populations in Austin. WF's weekly income doesn't even begin to approach CM's, and that's not because CM is any better than WF.

Bottom line is, it's the battle between the ever-dwindling population of hippies and the white collar shoppers! Go to both stores and check out the shoppers. I shop mostly at CM ( go figure...) but I go to WF once in a while. Most of us do not do the "rounds" of grocery stores every week like cdh apparently does/did.

On a side note, CM wouldn't exist if WF hadn't first. WF proved that Austin was ready for quality food. CM's visionary saw that and jumped on it. But WF's main thrust from the start was organics. CM's wasn't...

Comments, anybody?

Edited June 10, 2003 by foodie52 (log)

[fitz]

Sensible as always, f52... I think you hit the nail on the head.

I'm choosing my words carefully tonight, having just returned from Seton Northwest with a bunch o' stiches in my left hand, courtesy of the knife I was using to slice bread with earlier this evening. Still awfully numb...

Our chiropractor swears by WF simply because of the organic aspect. Me? That's nice sometimes, but I also love what CM has to offer. For an ex NY-er, it's kind of like checking out the window decorations at the 34th St. Macy's around the holidays...

As for Austin being the best raw ingredient town going, I'd still have to reserve my vote for NY--just in terms of having a place like the farmers market at Union Square coupled with places like Jefferson Market and Dean & DeLuca in such close proximity. Maybe it's just that we're on the NW fringes of town, but it's kind of a bummer not having a good farmers market around, or having to travl to 3 or 4 places to ind all the fun stuff you want...

[Tremor]

Maybe it would be helpful if I start reading the Austin Stateman before crumbling it up and using it for the bbq chimney starter.

Actually, NYTX, that's about all the Statesman is good for.

[Tremor]

But seriously.....

Correct me if I am wrong, all of you out there....WF and CM cater to two very different populations in Austin. WF's  weekly income doesn't even begin to approach CM's, and that's not because CM is any better than WF.

Bottom line is, it's the battle between the ever-dwindling population of hippies and the white collar shoppers! Go to both stores and check out the shoppers. I shop mostly at CM ( go figure...) but I go to WF once in a while. Most of us do not do the "rounds" of grocery stores every week like cdh apparently does/did.

On a side note, CM wouldn't exist if WF hadn't first. WF proved that Austin was ready for quality food. CM's visionary saw that and jumped on it. But WF's main thrust from the start was organics. CM's wasn't...

Comments, anybody?

I think you're right, foodie. Do you also remember how the service improved remarkably at Whole Foods after Central Market opened? Prior to that, the self-righteous snootiness was palpable in the WF stores.

[claire797]

Am I the only one who feels like they've been robbed after leaving Whole Foods? I like the store, but the prices are ridiculous. Central Market maybe be a few cents more on some things, but their prices aren't outrageous like WF.

CDH, I've never been in Fiesta before. Thanks for reminding me about it.

As to your query as to how WF and CM could not be in competition with each other, I think the answer lies in that they do indeed compete for some things, but they cater to two different crowds who could easily shop both stores.

I see CM as catering to everyone interested in good food, cooking, freshness and variety. Meanwhile, Whole Foods targets people with more of a "natural" foods bent. CM does carry a decent selection of natural foods, but Whole Foods carries a few more of the granola-head brands like Spectrum Naturals and a bunch of other ones I can't think of. If anything, I would think Whole Foods biggest competition would be Sun Harvest.

Edited to say: I think I just regurgitated what F52 said.

Edited June 10, 2003 by claire797 (log)

[Jaymes]

Prior to that, the self-righteous snootiness was palpable in the WF stores.

As a "woman of size," I always felt uncomfortable shopping in WF among the hairy, sandled set.

But in CM, I'm not the only fatty perusing the imported cheeses, I'll tell you that.

[Tremor]

Prior to that, the self-righteous snootiness was palpable in the WF stores.

As a "woman of size," I always felt uncomfortable shopping in WF among the hairy, sandled set.

But in CM, I'm not the only fatty perusing the imported cheeses, I'll tell you that.

You mean "full-figured", don't you, Jaymes? Just more there to love...

One thing I find that helps when shopping at Whole Foods; I put on my Birkenstocks and go "incognito". They never suspect that I'm actually a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy.

[claire797]

Prior to that, the self-righteous snootiness was palpable in the WF stores.

As a "woman of size," I always felt uncomfortable shopping in WF among the hairy, sandled set.

But in CM, I'm not the only fatty perusing the imported cheeses, I'll tell you that.

You mean "full-figured", don't you, Jaymes? Just more there to love...

One thing I find that helps when shopping at Whole Foods; I put on my Birkenstocks and go "incognito". They never suspect that I'm actually a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy.

Cripes! When do you people shop at Whole Foods? Every time I go it's teeming with yuppies from the ad agency next door.

All the birkenstocks are over at Wheatsville now.

[Tremor]

Cripes!  When do you people shop at Whole Foods?  Every time I go it's teeming with yuppies from the ad agency next door.

All the birkenstocks are over at Wheatsville now.

I go to the north store. And I'm almost CERTAIN I saw a couple of people wearing Birkenstocks the last time I was there!

[claire797]

Cripes!  When do you people shop at Whole Foods?  Every time I go it's teeming with yuppies from the ad agency next door.

All the birkenstocks are over at Wheatsville now.

I go to the north store. And I'm almost CERTAIN I saw a couple of people wearing Birkenstocks the last time I was there!

Ah! Maybe they've migrated North. I go to the downtown store.

[cdh]

Back in my days in Austin (97-2000), I was a regular at the downtown WF, and the 40th St CM, and I really didn't notice a marked difference b/t their shoppers. There was no smog of self-righteousness or patchouli in the air at WF, and the place was the best deal in town for that apple smoked bacon that I was hooked on...

I do totally agree that WF was outrageously priced for their meat and veg, and that's why CM was great... but WF had better chocolate and loose tea.

If CM had gotten in the Silk Road tea, the bacon and the belgian chocolate, I'd have excised the WF from the grocery rounds...

[memesuze]

cdh:

Have you ever ordered teas directly from David Hoffman at Silk Roads in Lagunitas California? He's very helpful, the teas are incredibly fresh [when you open the package, the aroma is very heady - whether it's a green, oolong, yunnan or black], and the service is quick.

As a Wheatsville member of long-standing [i joined when they were across the river next to a health food restaurant that gave me hepatitis in some fresh-squeezed orange juice], I try to support them when I can, over the corporate side of Whole Foods [i just have never enjoyed my experiences there and keep them to a once- or twice-a-year foray], Central Mkt is often a stop on my way home after work, and Sun Harvest sees me on Saturdays after the gym. But they all see my in my Birkies, when it's warm weather.

[Jaymes]

I really wish you would teach a tea class at CM. I'd go. For sure.