Post #292,582
9/8/07 8:15:58 PM
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The whole thing's in sight now
It has been a damned long slog. The original structure went up in 1889, and housed the power plant for the local streetcars. The elaborate "Piedmont Baths" were erected on the adjacent lot, using waste heat from the facility to take the chill off a vast indoor pool. In 1925, as the car culture gripped helpless, susceptible California, the building was repurposed as an automobile dealership, and remained so for seventy years. From 1995, four years before I moved to this slowly gentrifying neighborhood, until 2003 the building was a derelict, home to the homeless and crackerjack venue to the crack-addled. That year, in March, much of it (principally 20th century additions ) was demolished pursuant to an ambitious development plan that subsequently came a-cropper. Two years ago serious construction began...
and is shortly to be completed...
on a "Whole Foods Market."
It's scheduled to open in nineteen days. Judging by what I can see from here, under a minute's walk up the street, they'll have to sprint to the finish line to complete the interior, but lord amighty!—after eight years (out of thirty in Oakland) unable to transport groceries home on foot, I will have a food source approximately fifty seconds from my front door. True, they're not called "Whole Paycheck" for nothing, but under the spousette's iron imperative I have been shopping at high-end grocers here in yuppieville for a decade now, so the sticker shock should be muted.
ravenously,
Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
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Post #292,586
9/8/07 9:11:16 PM
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Re: The whole thing's in sight now
The new one in Cupertino opened several weeks back. It's just now possible to get into the parking lot. But damn, two carts can pass each other in an aisle without knocking stuff off of the shelves.
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Post #292,588
9/8/07 9:50:28 PM
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roomy shopping
Parking will be tight for this one (not a direct consideration for me, since it's all-but nextdoor), but the store itself will be 55K square feet, and from what I can see through the windows as I pass each weekday en route to Carpool Corner, the aisles are generously proportioned, unlike those of the only other WFM within reasonable distance.
cordially,
Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
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Post #292,591
9/8/07 10:30:48 PM
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*sigh* Perhaps progress will come here too
Here on the eastside of our small town, we have been treated like step-children. A small bit of progress is being made, but not enough to satisfy most of our needs. A Whole Foods would be lovely.
Enjoy.
Smile,
Amy
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Post #292,593
9/8/07 10:44:53 PM
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The store brand is actually reasonable
"365" or whatever it is.
We've had poor luck with our local WFM's produce, however. It spends too much time on a truck and goes bad a few days after we get it home.
I'll shop there over the other local "high end" grocer: the morons put the deli "complex" right in front of the door, so when one enters the store one is immediately confronted with a huge crowd of shoppers. The store also has mini carts and aisles to match. Claustrophobia city.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #292,600
9/9/07 4:05:19 AM
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"Local WFM's produce"? You quit that basket delivery thing?
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Post #292,606
9/9/07 10:50:30 AM
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That's April->Oct. only
And it's not enough for everything. You get what they grow, which isn't necessarily what you want.
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #292,603
9/9/07 9:08:31 AM
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their peppered bacon isnt too high end
I did find their selection of salmon leaves a lot to be desired. They are extremely fond of their bakery and relabelled organics but a few items in their salt diet selections taste good and are reasonable.
thanx,
bill
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #292,608
9/9/07 11:32:34 AM
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I check out the one in Glendale now and then.
Generally I'm looking for something specific and exotic, but they rarely have much exotic stuff.
I got some fresh lamb sausages there once that was reasonably priced. Sometimes they have some good Spanish sausages but I can order those from the factory, pay shipping and still have them for 1/3 less. Next day too - the factory's just down in Harbor City.
Strangely, they often don't have that signature yuppie green - arugula, and I was needing some that was good looking for a photo. One day they did have the biggest, best looking arugula I'd ever seen and I bought a bunch. I didn't bother photoing it because it was absolutely the worst arugula I'd ever encountered, course in texture and totally deficient in taste. Yuk!
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
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Post #292,610
9/9/07 11:35:01 AM
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They've just recently broken ground...
...on a WFM right next to the Home Despot on 75th St by Rte 59. The wife is salivating over when it'll be completed, as they've had a sign proclaiming "WFM Coming Soon!" for over a year now, in front of an empty lot of dirt. It'll be marginally closer than the Fruitful Yield that's in the same neighborhood (generally speaking), but much much much larger.
As for Christian's comment below, we, too, belong to a CSA. This is our first year doing it, and we signed up for the whole kit and kaboodle. It's too much greenery, even with my wife not supposed to be eating much in the way of carbs or meat-protein. We have enjoyed the selection, though. There have been lots of greens that, had they not been provided for us along with the membership (such as kohlrabi or celeriac, among others), I'd likely never have tried. Now, however, I thoroughly enjoy kohlrabi kohlslaw. ;-)
-YendorMike
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania
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Post #292,642
9/10/07 4:49:12 AM
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The grist grinds slower in the 'organic' mill, it seems..
There were similar delays re Sonoma WFoods, which opened last month, replacing a Ralph's - making it a lot closer than Petaluma for me ~= 40% of that RT, and I make this local run weekly, anyway. A net plus.. unless greed accelerates.
I wonder how much local autonomy this chain allows, how franchise-y? is the financing. Friend noticed immediately that the new store had no bulk foods section (!) - merely one of the earliest CoOp practices, and that which began the whole metamorphosis beyond packaged/frozen. Manager remains vague about 'when' (some of us believe: 'if'.. from the parsed responses.)
The situation has prompted thus, a guerrilla campaign - walking in, each time we ask naively, "where the bulk section is?" - and note the changing script in response. This is no trivial matter; Ex: raw-ish sugar at Petaluma store is/was ~ $.87/# Their packaged versions range from 2.xx up to near $3. Lot of delta for a ziplock baggie. You might want to make some $$ comparisons too, after the Opening specials fade. Will be curious to hear if bulk is offered from the first (?)
Gentrification here is most visible in the rapid targeting of the fortunes of the Big tax-cut folk - with parallel pattern of enhanced PR, portraying Wine-Disneyland as The mecca for weekend getaways in the Lexus. Accordingly, most Sonoma restaurants have imported the prices, but the quality/$ and selection remains better in SF. There's no longer a middle ground here, from which to select. We will be looking for signs of traffic-will-bear pricing at WFoods over the next months.
Clearly the national chains are gearing for the Two-Class Repo futchah, but not at all for mobs with torches - it seems. No surprise - the expected toxic fallout from all those events we know so well - has just begun.
Luck on your WF version,
Ashton
PS - concur on the general OKness of the '365' store brand - nuts are fresh; froz. organic fruits for smoothies: taste about same as my flash-frozen local berries and are even priced moderately.
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