Whole Foods Bellevue Opens 30 June

[Jim]

I understand, from signs posted on the doors, that Whole Foods Bellevue store opens tomorrow at 8 AM. It looks to be quite large, the largest of the 9 I've been to, and will give the other Eastside stores a run for our money! It's supposed to reflect WF's latest thinking in organic cum upscale shopping. I'm going early tomorrow and will be interested to know what others think.

[Jim]

I meant to add a reference to its location, but, belatedly, here tis:

http://www.wholefoods.com/stores/list_WA.html

[OnlyTheBest]

Thanks for the mention I had no idea they had another store. I went to the roosevelt store last sunday and was very impressed with it compared to the other whole foods I have seen all over the east. SO.... the fact that this one is bigger is even better news.

I think it's great to have markets like whole foods and metropolitan in the same town. You can never have too many great places to shop.

[Really Nice!]

Darn, and I drove in today. I should probably wait out the crawl across the bridges tonight. Hmm... where on the eastside shall I wait???

Hmm...

[Schielke]

Wow, this is earlier than I had heard. I asked a Whole Foods person at the Seattle location and they estimated it would be in early August.

Sweet!

I also have word from some Bellevue friends that the Larry's Market and QFC in that area have been trying to step up the quality of their wares so they dont get blown out of the water.

[Really Nice!]

I also have word from some Bellevue friends that the Larry's Market and QFC in that area have been trying to step up the quality of their wares so they dont get blown out of the water.

Let the competition begin!

Foie gras, $7 lb

Osetra caviar, 76¢ ounce

White truffles, free with purchase of black truffles, 14¢ lb

[malarkey]

ohhhh I can't wait to check it out.

[Mr. Toast]

Foie gras, $7 lb

Osetra caviar, 76¢ ounce

White truffles, free with purchase of black truffles, 14¢ lb

I take it these are opening specials? How long will these prices last? I guess I'm really asking: do I have time to add a "freezer wing" to my house, or do I need to settle on adding a smaller unit in my garage to store all that foie gras?

[Really Nice!]

Foie gras, $7 lb

Osetra caviar, 76¢ ounce

White truffles, free with purchase of black truffles, 14¢ lb

How long will these prices last?

Umm. I made this up. This was my attempt at humor. Obviously I failed. But seriously folks, I'm here all week, don't forget to tip your waitress.

[Mr. Toast]

Umm. I made this up. This was my attempt at humor. Obviously I failed. But seriously folks, I'm here all week, don't forget to tip your waitress.

I'm *so* embarrassed. I guess I should call off the home remodel, then?

[jbonne]

I also have word from some Bellevue friends that the Larry's Market and QFC in that area have been trying to step up the quality of their wares so they dont get blown out of the water.

fwiw, WF Bellevue hired away Kurt Krause, the wine steward at Larry's. so if you were enjoying the Larry's wine selection, you can now indulge over at WF.

while i'm not always a fan of the WF selections, a browse of their Bellevue offerings the other night left me plenty impressed.

[Really Nice!]

fwiw, WF Bellevue hired away Kurt Krause, the wine steward at Larry's. so if you were enjoying the Larry's wine selection, you can now indulge over at WF.

while i'm not always a fan of the WF selections, a browse of their Bellevue offerings the other night left me plenty impressed.

Not to offend anyone's philosophy or taste in wine, but I thought it to be rather pedestrian. The prices were inline with any other retailer and I thought their selection was rather limited. Even the wines they had in their 'cellar' were not the caliber of wines I'd expect to find there.

There is a much better selection at the Roosevelt store. But I'm willing to give them time to develop.

My 2¢

[malarkey]

same goes for their beer selection. I was perusing while someone else came up and said "ah yes, the most important selection of the evening..." and I said "hmm not as good as the Roosevelt store" and he said "oh but give him some time..."

Now, I don't know the "him" he was refering to, so we'll see. Whoever does the beer at the Roosevelt store deserves a gold star. Its a fabulous selection.

[jbonne]

Not to offend anyone's philosophy or taste in wine, but I thought it to be rather pedestrian. The prices were inline with any other retailer and I thought their selection was rather limited. Even the wines they had in their 'cellar' were not the caliber of wines I'd expect to find there.

There is a much better selection at the Roosevelt store. But I'm willing to give them time to develop.

My 2¢

prices didn't impress me, but i thought the selection was relatively good, given the venue. i've had quite the opposite experience -- often been very unimpressed by the Roosevelt store's selections. (though i still buy wine there several times a week.) some of that is that they're (like the Bellevue store) pushing the bulk lots purchased by WF. it can occasionally be very good stuff -- like the $9, 1-liter bottle of Berger gruner we tried yesterday -- but i've seen stuff that is truly pedestrian.

was very impressed, for example, at some of the German options in Bellevue.

incidentally, the wine buyers at the two stores have known each other for a long time, so i imagine there'll be a fair amount of crossover in the selection. as i understand it, some of the Bellevue stock was dictated from on high but will change soon.

quite agree about the cellar, though the selections seemed to me the likely choices for a flagship store in a locale often known to have more money than taste. not to offend any well-palated Eastsiders.

[kieran]

We went and checked it out yesterday. It was a very pleasant shopping experience even though the place was swarmed. I was very impressed with the knowledgeable staff and the organization of the store, and the selection and quality of ingredients were about on par with other WFs I've been to before. One feature they don't have that I wish they did: many other WF stores I've shopped at have a sample cheese basket in the cheese section, with small (1-2 oz) servings of a variety of cheeses for sale. I often enjoy trying new cheeses this way without having to spend a ton to figure out what I'll like.

The traffic flow in the parking lot yesterday was also pretty unintuitive and poorly organized, but that should level off with time.

I live in Seattle, so I suspect that when I want to shop at WF I'll probably stick with the Roosevelt store most of the time, but since I work on the eastside I may visit the Bellevue store while -- you said it! -- waiting out the bridge traffic.

[skyflyer3]

We checked out the new WF in Bellevue yesterday, and while it's nice, it seems a lot like the one in Portland to me. Which seems a lot like Larry's Market to me, for some reason. I think it has more of a yuppy feel... which is why I don't like it as much as the Roosevelt store. The Roosevelt one is smaller, they store their tea in light impermeable canisters and my car won't heat up in the underground parking. And I didn't see a Jamba Juice in the store. And Trader Joe's is right down the street from the Seattle WF. So I'm sticking to the Seattle one - but am glad that there are more popping up.

Speaking of which, I heard a rumor there's one going up on Capital Hill, near the Broadway Market. Anyone else hear this?

[Really Nice!]

Speaking of which, I heard a rumor there's one going up on Capital Hill, near the Broadway Market. Anyone else hear this?

One what, Whole Foods or Trader Joes? There is a TJs currently under construction on Madison on Capital Hill, if that's what you're interested in.

[MsRamsey]

Speaking of which, I heard a rumor there's one going up on Capital Hill, near the Broadway Market.  Anyone else hear this?

One what, Whole Foods or Trader Joes? There is a TJs currently under construction on Madison on Capital Hill, if that's what you're interested in.

The TJ's is at 18th & Madison. Skyflyer is talking about the rampant rumor that a Whole Foods is going up on Broadway. I wish! All signs seem to point to a new, bigger QFC. Someone please tell me I'm dead wrong.

Edited July 27, 2004 by MsRamsey (log)

[LaurieA-B]

The Broadway Market is being revamped as a super-size QFC (more like the U Village and Harvard Market stores, with bigger deli, sushi bar, etc.). The Whole Foods thing was just a rumor, definitely not happening now.

Edit to add: Most of the small business, the health club, etc. will continue to operate in the Market; it won't all be QFC.

Edited July 27, 2004 by LaurieA-B (log)

[ScorchedPalate]

Skyflyer is talking about the rampant rumor that a Whole Foods is going up on Broadway.  I wish!  All signs seem to point to a new, bigger QFC.  Someone please tell me I'm dead wrong.

We were all wrong:

Whole Foods to anchor South Lake Union project

[mamster]

Laurie and I went to the Bellevue WF today with MsRamsey, Schielke, and MsSchielke. Unsurprisingly, it's a great store. We were particularly interested to see what it had that Seattle lacks. The prepared food section is much larger, and there's gelato. Really good gelato. I tasted chocolate jalapeno, which was genuinely good, not just in a gimmicky way, and a big bite of Schielke's espresso, which was awesome -- barely sweet at all. If you're one of the people who was bemoaning the overly sweet Frappuccino, get over there and grab the espresso gelato.

There's also a large outdoor seating area.