March 28, 2007
Whole Foods Bowery Parties Before Opening
Gothamist had the chance to get a sneak peek at the new Whole Foods on the Bowery. Although it's scheduled to open to the public tomorrow there was a pre-opening party last night. Yes - that's right, folks: A party to celebrate the opening of a grocery store which already has a few NYC locations.
But, to be fair, it is the largest Whole Foods in the city, measuring in at a whopping 71,000 square feet. The Bowery and Houston location was also built with the environment in mind. It contains an eco-friendly refrigerating system, recycled building materials, energy efficient lighting and electricity purchased with wind energy credits. (There are also discounts on coffee if you bring your own mug and pies when you bring back the plates for the made-from-scratch pies.) In keeping with the environmental theme, the opening party was a fundraiser for Riverkeeper, an environmental neighborhood watch program.
This entry has a slideshow. To view the slideshow your browser must have the Flash Player. (If you are using a newsreader that doesn't support Flash click here to launch the slideshow.)
The vastness of the store is truly something. The aisles are wide and spacious, and there are unique stations and features, like a chili bar; a full-on gelato section featuring luscious selections from Il Laboratorio del Gelato; Fresh & Wild, a salad station; Rustica Minardi, an Italian cafe; an enormous fromagerie; a sushi bar with a conveyor belt and a french fry station; a cafe with views of Houston and Allen Street; and a room for cooking classes.
The true test will come tomorrow and in the next weeks and months: Will all of this space contain the crowds that are likely to be drawn in by the lure of gourmet groceries? Will neighbors resent the crowds? And will their check-out lines be manageable or a hot mess (the way they are at Columbus Circle)?
And we know the folks at Curbed, who have been waiting for this location to open for about three years now, are very excited. We think they started Racked in honor of it!
|
I think it would be good to see more locally-owned organic food stores, rather than relying on a national chain to provide it for us. The 2nd floor at Fairway on Broadway is a nice start.
yawn. it's a fucking grocery store. get over it.
Welcome to generica, NYC the last place in America that needs an underwhelming chain grocery store from the subburbs, like this is some milestone for a place that has the best of everything in the world. Right wing owned let us not forget.
Who cares if the owners are right wing or not?
They're selling food, not political agendas.
I wonder where Food Emporium stands on gun control....
my biggest problem is that the building doesn't belong in that neighborhood at all.
From a profile on PBS, the owner seemed to be an acid veteran and a bit of the hippy-dippy type? He certainly didn't strike as a board member of Haliburton, blithering on about a Salmon's "energy field." I thought he seemed like a fun dude to work for.
This is just soooooo strange to me...
In the mid-80s I had one friend who lived on Sullivan between Houston and Bleecker, and another who lived on 4th between C and D. And, my friends, you didn't drive your car down Houston (I was in the Bronx at the time) without a roll of quarters in your car, unless you wanted a squeegee man to smash your mirror. Usually there were 1-2 a block, and as one of my friends once said, "just think of it as a toll."
I know it sounds nuts, but part of me misses those days...
First of all, the company is publicly owned.
The CEO, John Mackey, is a former hippie and a vegan. He's also a businessman.. I guess that means right wing to you. He's gotten shit for being against unions, but Whole Foods has been ranked one of the top companies to work for.
mr. hunt,
are you really that myopic?
companies may not "sell a right-wing agenda", but many do fund conservative/ultra-conservative organizations through donations and organizational support. so, by shopping at these stores, you are in fact funding these agendas.
good lord that building is ugly. the sort-of-matching one across the street is even worse. gah. <tears out eyes>
Hopefully they will solve the problem of too few checkouts with this one.
Anyone that thinks New York has the best of everything has clearly needs to get out more.
And Moo, as far as funding agendas and being myopic, I love how New Yorkers concern themselves the "agendas" of corporate founders based thousands of miles away while they turn a blind on to the things going on in their backyards. Let's take investment banks for example. While Goldman Sachs may be funding some "green" companies these days if you think their private capital guys wouldn't buy up your job and ship it to China tomorrow you're delusional.
Like I said, I just think it would be nice if there were more locally-owned organic foods stores. I'm sure Whole Foods is owned by a great guy, but I think a healthy dose of local business never hurt anybody. And it strikes me that there aren't a whole lot of well-known locally-owned organic stores in the NYC area.
hippy-dippy?
and folks who "miss" the mid 80's city are nuts. giving your money to people to lay off your stuff can jokingly be called a "toll", but i work hard for my dollars and my chance to have a small plot of space in this great city. i do not miss squeegee men.
i also agree. it's just a supermarket. food is food.
Yes, but where does Pappy stand on abortion?
I have not had good experiences shopping at 'locally owned' grocery stores
Hey Stupmtown,
How about generic whiners from the suburbs like urself stop homogenizing my city. I'll keep the whole foods thank you. God forbid an environmentally conscious, organic supermarket opens, hires people for a fair wage with benefits and offers great produce. You can go shop at the Met over on Mulberry, I'm sure you'll be thrilled with its local charm.
What is the market for this store ?
Not Chinatown. Whole Foods already has the NYU market.
Chinatown has its own supermarkets and minimarkets and fruit stores. This store is for the rich and lazy. Am I right ?
We already have 14th Street's Trader Joe's for those on a tight budget.
Are those CONDOs on top of this Whole Food ?
Good luck if Whole Food expects to make money from only those customers.
WholeFoods is public and the CEO, as stated, is far from right-wing.
Take your aggressions out on TRULY right-wing companies like HomeDepot and WalMart.
Wow this is hysterical. Whole Foods opens up a 71,000 square foot store and all the people who opposed Wal-Mart and other "big box" stores because they'd hurt mom and pops are silent.
I guess hurting mom and pops only matters if you don't like the "big box" company behind 'em.
I live down on Orchard and I'm definitely looking forward to it. I love Essex Market but they're always closed!! and the other markets; Pathmark, Fine Fare, and the Chinese Markets just flat out suck. Bring on the Conveyor belt Sushi!!
I'm just thinking out loud about all the smaller grocery stores that will be put out of business in the area . Sure it's a boon for consumers, It's death to a small business that either hasn't established itself, Or has and is going out of business because of this new store .
mooooops: 1st, what does goldman sachs have to do with my comment? 2nd, what gives you the impression that i'm not concerned or active in local politics? 3rd, since when does being a new yorker outweigh being american in regards to being engaged in national politics?
i can't tell if you're a conservative using the all too common diversionary off-topic example to dillute progressive points or if you're a actually just trying to out-liberal me. either way, you come off as being sort of stupid.
How is it that Atlanta has a whole foods since like forever and only recently has the stores arriving here?
Are the prices in ATL cheaper? or, is the income gap that wide in America, nowadays?
I'd rather have a 24 hour Wal-Mart Super Center than this overpriced chain.
It's not just a supermarket.
It's an EXPENSIVE supermarket.
Really friggin' expensive.
Grocery Store Porn!
About time too. I think they should have a free lunch for everyone in the neighborhood who has been seeing their "coming soon" sign in the window for what seems an eternity.
i used to work at whole foods, and the more positive things said about John Mackey are valid.
And as for Trader Joes being cheaper-- not really. It's all convenience food, really. If you're vegan or have a special diet (like me), then shopping at Trader Joe's is unreasonable. I'm glad to have WFM on the Bowery, just for the sake of never having to go to the hellpit at Union Square.
But my word of advice has always been (even when i had a discount), shop for cheap (but good quality) produce locally and elsewhere. Get your staples at WFM.
The store will be absolutley mobbed, and anyone who thinks there isn't a market for it clearly hasn't been to the area lately. Between the luxury condos (where you need to be in finance to live in) and the escalating rents in walkups (where you need to be making good money), it's in the absoulte sweet spot in terms of clientele for whole foods.
Damn I wonder how much my uncle's Condo right next to there just shot up in price?
The cafe offers views of Chrystie Street (not Allen, a few blocks away), as well as Sara Roosevelt Park. This store will be a mega-hit (food = the new rock'n'roll) and may be the tipping point (along with the soon-to-come new New Museum) that ignites explosive growth in that hood.
"Yes, but where does Pappy stand on abortion?"
haahaha
amazing
yeah i'm sure my local bodega owner is SUUUPER liberal
There aren't any other supermarkets in the area. Metfood (chain) on Mulberry is tiny and the Key Food (also a chain) off Grand is dirty. The little Italy specialty shops are closed by the time I get home from work, and while the Chinatown markets are GREAT for seafood, fruits and veggies, they don't always have things and they certainly don't have 'groceries' (as defined by Fresh Direct). Finally, shopping at the bodega is probably the same price and certainly less healthy than Whole Foods. All of that said, no matter how you feel about the corporation, the neighborhood really just needs a grown-up supermarket. As a four-year resident (I know, not forever, but long enough to still have a good deal), I'm thrilled!
yeah i live in the area and i am pretty happy with the whole foods finally opening up. essex street is essex street: cheap but bad hours and pretty inconsistent. the key foods off grand is disgusting. the key foods on A, is a, you know, key foods.
i buy all my toilet paper, beer, cigarettes, rolling papers etc from papi (even though he lets the fucking cat sleep on the bread), so he'll still be in business.
Moo, try reading my post again because it wasn't that complicated. you drew all the wrong points or I should say you made up points I didn't make. as for whether I am liberal or conservative - like I said earlier, why is it one or the other? the country is about 5% liberal and 5% neocon and 90% somewhere in between.
FRENCH FRY STATION? TELL ME MORE!
Who said that whole foods is a right wing company? So far from the truth that it's not even funny.
Luke--
"Yo, Mista Rivera--how come every time I come in here, the cat's asleep on the bread?"
...'I dunno...that's where he live!'
You just warmed my heart with that one.
The rest o' y'all...I grew up in the area and while it's nice to see that there has been development and improvement, it's a shame that it's become another boutique area for the wanna be cool and quasi-wealthy. USED to be a neighborhood. While I love WF as much as the next tree hugger, it's not THAT exciting. How about some decent RENT in the area? That might get me going!