whole foods coming to west orange?

[scott123]

Didn't someone say (when the moving topic first came up) that there was a sign at the Montclair store, that they weren't moving?

Fib? -- or do they plan to keep the Montclair store, too?

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Whole Foods, at this point in time, is expanding- rapidly expanding. They're not closing or moving ANY stores, regardless of how close in proximity the new store may be to the old one. This rapid expansion, btw, has no end in sight, so if you hear of a new store opening in the next year or two, know that it's extremely likely to occur. With some chains, projected new stores can easily become derailed and fall by the wayside. But not this chain. These guys are hell bent on expansion.

[Rail Paul]

I hope the one in Paramus has a liquor license.  The Montclair store had a nice selection of everyday wines.  They took that license to use it for the store in Red Bank.

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Not likely. Liquor licenses in NJ are issued for a particular municpality. You can't move a license from town to town.

And I suspect a liquor license in Paramus (they'd have to find an available retail license for sale) is pretty pricey. I would be surprised if the Paramus store had a liquor dept.

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That's what I thought, but was told that by a WF employee when I inquired why the Dept was no longer there. Was told they are only allowed 6 in the state and so they used that one for the RB Store.

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That's a slightly different part of the law.

NJ state law prohibits ownership of more than a certain number of alcohol licenses by one individual or corporation regardless of the town. I thought the statewide limit was four, in total, but it might be six.

Firms that look like chains ("Shop Rite Liquors") in fact are associations of individually owned stores. If you read the fine print in the ad, they state that, and that the prices are actually set by a single store, and other stores may vary from these prices.

[menton1]

Whole Foods, at this point in time, is expanding- rapidly expanding.  They're not closing or moving ANY stores, regardless of how close in proximity the new store may be to the old one. This rapid expansion, btw, has no end in sight, so if you hear of a new store opening in the next year or two, know that it's extremely likely to occur.  With some chains, projected new stores can easily become derailed and fall by the wayside.  But not this chain. These guys are hell bent on expansion.

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Sounds something like Starbucks!

[LauraSM]

That's a slightly different part of the law.

NJ state law prohibits ownership of more than a certain number of alcohol licenses by one individual or corporation regardless of the town. I thought the statewide limit was four, in total, but it might be six.

Firms that look like chains ("Shop Rite Liquors") in fact are associations of individually owned stores. If you read the fine print in the ad, they state that, and that the prices are actually set by a single store, and other stores may vary from these prices.

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It's actually two, unless the entity or person owned more than 2 before 1962. There is an exception for consumption licenses for hotels, restaurants, international airports and bowling alleys, but that doesn't apply to liquor stores.

[scarlet knight]

Just returned from WF in Milburn. Tuna was $19.99/lb. It looked great, but I went with the swordfish at $11.99/lb. It is expensive, but they ususally have enough choices such that a cost-conscious consumer can find something good.

[jo-mel]

What is the difference between Whole Foods and Trader Joe?

[Curlz]

In my experience...

WF: Full-blown grocery store where everything is made without fake ingredients, 'tho they offer both conventional and organic produce (usually stunning, btw). Includes bakery, deli, butcher, cheese depts, etc.

TJ: Smaller (not in CA) stores, far fewer selections within each category, lots of frozen (and I'm told good) foods--some prepared, others flash-frozen meats and treats. Minimal produce and dairy sections.

Wegmans: Beats 'em all. AND I WANT ONE NEARBY, IF ANYONE IS LISTENING...

[ghostrider]

Trader Joe's offers no low-sodium cereals.

Whole Foods has a choice of at least a half dozen.

[scott123]

I've found that the biggest difference between the two is that if you find the same (or comparable) item in both stores, TJs will be quite a bit cheaper. The one catch, though, is that because of it's size, TJs has only a fraction of what Whole Foods carries.

One large difference that means quite a bit to me personally is that Whole Foods has a long list of artificial/processed ingredients that they won't allow in any of the products they sell, one of the more notable being partially hydrogenated oil (aka shortening/trans fats). TJs has no such standards in this regard- I wish they did. A partially hydrogenated oil laden cookie/cake, regardless of where you buy it, is not only going to be bad for your health, it won't taste any good either. In that regard, WF is light years ahead of TJs. I'm especially impressed by the all butter icings on their cakes. I may, for the sake of frugality, buy my meat at Shop Rite, but I wouldn't be caught dead buying a cake there. If I could pick the single worst item Shop Rite (or any other low end supermarket) sells, it would be those abominations they call cake. The fact that so many people buy them frequently causes me to question if there is any hope for humanity.

Doesn't the chapter on Revelation have something about Shop Rite cakes being one of the harbingers of armaggedon?

[lapasterie]

I've found that the biggest difference between the two is that if you find the same (or comparable) item in both stores, TJs will be quite a bit cheaper.  The one catch, though, is that because of it's size, TJs has only a fraction of what Whole Foods carries.

One large difference that means quite a bit to me personally is that Whole Foods has a long list of artificial/processed ingredients that they won't allow in any of the products they sell, one of the more notable being partially hydrogenated oil (aka shortening/trans fats). TJs has no such standards in this regard- I wish they did. A partially hydrogenated oil laden cookie/cake, regardless of where you buy it, is not only going to be bad for your health, it won't taste any good either. In that regard, WF is light years ahead of TJs. I'm especially impressed by the all butter icings on their cakes.  I may, for the sake of frugality, buy my meat at Shop Rite, but I wouldn't be caught dead buying a cake there.  If I could pick the single worst item Shop Rite (or any other low end supermarket) sells, it would be those abominations they call cake. The fact that so many people buy them frequently causes me to question if there is any hope for humanity.

Doesn't the chapter on Revelation have something about Shop Rite cakes being one of the harbingers of armaggedon?

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Speaking of terrible cakes.....what about Costco....If it is cheap people will buy anything.

[jo-mel]

Thanks for all the comparisons! I'll have to check out a Wegman's. There is one about 30-45 minutes away.

[jg70124]

I remember reading recently in The Record of Hackensack that the Whole Foods would be situated in the Bergen Mall but *not* in the space formerly occupied by the old Shop-Rite. 

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I heard it's going in the space that used to be the Macy's. Darned if I know where I heard it, though.

[njpetsitter]

Just called the West Orange Planning people at Town Hall. Whole Foods has their application in in frotn of the Board as I write this. If they get approved, and when all is said and done, they should be in by 2007.

Oh bliss, oh joy...

njpetsitter@gmail.com

[Kape]

From the Whole Foods Web site:

New Jersey

Paramus

Whole Foods Market

Paramus, NJ

77,000 sq. ft.

Opening date to be announced.

West Orange

Whole Foods Market

Mt. Prospect & Eagle Rock

West Orange, NJ

55,430 sq. ft.

Opening date to be announced.

We're getting 20,000 more sq. feet! Yes!

[Cook456]

From the Whole Foods Web site:

New Jersey

Paramus

Whole Foods Market

Paramus, NJ

77,000 sq. ft.

Opening date to be announced.

West Orange

Whole Foods Market

Mt. Prospect & Eagle Rock

West Orange, NJ

55,430 sq. ft.

Opening date to be announced.

  We're getting 20,000 more sq. feet! Yes!

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Where in Paramus?

And why do they have to open another new store twenty or so minutes away from me ( I live in Clifton..) Edgewater- 25 min..Montclair-20 mins...Ridgewood 25 mins( via pkwy)...Geesh!!!

I think it's a conspiracy!!!

Edited December 7, 2005 by Cook456 (log)

[ghostrider]

And why do they have to open another new store twenty or so minutes away from me ( I live in Clifton..)  Edgewater- 25 min..Montclair-20 mins...Ridgewood 25 mins( via pkwy)...Geesh!!! 

I think it's a conspiracy!!! 

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I can get to the Montclair store in 20 minutes from Rutherford. Of course Clifton is big & you may be in the wrong part. But if you want some shortcuts let me know.

[Kape]

"Where in Paramus?"

As discussed previously in this thread, the Paramus store will be somewhere in the Bergen Mall or on its property.

~ Ken

[Cook456]

And why do they have to open another new store twenty or so minutes away from me ( I live in Clifton..)  Edgewater- 25 min..Montclair-20 mins...Ridgewood 25 mins( via pkwy)...Geesh!!! 

I think it's a conspiracy!!!  

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I can get to the Montclair store in 20 minutes from Rutherford. Of course Clifton is big & you may be in the wrong part. But if you want some shortcuts let me know.

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That's what it takes me...I live on Main Ave, near Clifton Commons. I use RT#3 to Grove St to Clarendon to Valley Rd.. 20 mins..

I really am getting to dislike the Montclair store. They seem to run out of items I go there for..or don't stock them anymore. Most Sunday mornings I make my trek to Edgewater...have coffee and a scone or bagel..( great poppy bagels!!) and then shop, before the crowds arrive.

[ghostrider]

I was chagrined to discover it took me almost 1/2 hour to get to Montclair WF today, with relatively little traffic. My sense of time is notoriously oblique to that of most folks in this world.

Depending on time of day, you might do better to avoid Rt. 3 & take Kingsland up to West Passaic/Broad/Watchung to Grove. (I usually exit Rt. 3 at Bloomfield Ave, & connect to W. Passaic. It's almost 2 miles shorter than going up to Grove because of the way Rt. 3 swings to the northwest.) But timewise it's uncertain, depending on how you hit the stoplights. It's a good morning & late evening route, not so in the mid-afternoon, traffic builds up.

Edgewater is a haul but it has one of the most scenic parking lots in the area! They were also the only place I could find the fresh Maine shrimp in season last year (see the New England forum for more on that little delicacy). And Kinara is right across the street. Now I need to work on combining those two trips.

[Kape]

The Bergen Record updated its readers on Dec. 29 on the expansion of the Bergen Mall, which is said to include a Whole Foods. While the article in The Record did not name any stores or chains (it just described the sizes of the new buildings on the site), it seems to me that the Whole Foods, which will be 77,000 sq ft, according to the WF Web site, would probably be located on the east side of Forest Avenue, the side where Spa 2 is and where the old Shop-Rite once was.

The article is here: http://tinyurl.com/acgsy

~ KP

[ghostrider]

The word on the street is that the opening of the West Orange WF has been rescheduled from March to July 2006 because the renovation is taking longer than expected.

Then, once the West Orange branch is up & running, the Montclair branch will move to a larger space, likely the Pathmark space in Lackawanna Pz. As of now, the company definitely intends to maintain a store in Montclair.

More power to 'em. They had fresh Maine shrimp for $3.99 lb today! It doesn't have to be Whole Paycheck if you keep your eyes open.

[jo-mel]

ghostrider --

The Pathmark in Lackawanna Plaza?? Is that Pathmark closing down?

[ghostrider]

ghostrider --

The Pathmark in Lackawanna Plaza?? Is that Pathmark closing down?

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From a conversation I overheard, Whole Foods have their collective eyes on the space. This is a long term plan & won't happen immediately. I suppose there are various reasons it could fall through.

[hitmanoo]

The word on the street is that the opening of the West Orange WF has been rescheduled from March to July 2006 because the renovation is taking longer than expected.

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Is the W. Orange Whole Foods still planned to be in space formerly occupied by Pathmark in the mall with KMart, Wendy's and Staples?

If so, what kind of renovations? It doesn't look like anything has been done to that space besides a total clearout.

[Rail Paul]

Looks like the Whole Foods is closer to realization in West Orange. Baristanet reports:

Whole Foods sign is now up in WO