<p>I finally began (reluctantly) to shop at the local Whole Foods market a few weeks ago. A friend shops there nearly exclusively, always praised the store, and repeatedly suggested that I try it. So I finally relented.</p>
<p>Like a lot of folks, I was impressed by the wide selection of foodstuffs. And like a great many folks, I was flabbergasted by the high prices. But, I nevertheless did make a few purchases there over the course of about two months. I was a sucker for the Knudsen sparkling Ginger beverage. And occasionally there were decent prices to be had on things like the wonderful honeycrisp apples. But looking at the prices for fresh meats and various ‘ordinary’ fruits and vegetables…well, I’ve had enough. The place is overrated, overpriced and many of it’s “fresh” offerings aren’t even locally grown, as the founder admitted during a ‘60 Minutes’ interview months ago. ‘Locally Grown’ was supposed to be their raison d’ tere (spelling?). So long ‘Whole Paycheck.’</p>
<p>I love the cheese department at Whole Foods and go there if I’m having a party and want some nice different cheese to serve. I do all of my other grocery shopping elsewhere. Agreed…way too expensive.</p>
<p>I was into an “organic kick” and went to Whole Foods for a couple of months to buy my fresh produce. They are SO expensive, and I found out that my local grocery store was stocking some organic fruits so I have been patronizing them instead. I do wish that I could continue to shop at Whole Foods, but some of their prices just seem off the wall.</p>
<p>I love it. We don’t do the “main” grocery shopping there, but to me it is like being in food fairyland. I love the yogurt parfaits, the prepared food bar and the cheeses.</p>
<p>Depends. Their house brand “365” items are often good buys, especially for the quality. They offer some of the best quality supermarket produce. I’d rather pay more for those good apples than pay less for produce that goes bad quickly. The bulk bins for grains are a better deal than buying pre-bagged at other stores, and there’s more variety (millet, anyone?). Also more variety on things like soybean products (seitan, tofu). We keep kosher, and Whole Foods carries a brand of free-range kosher chicken that I can’t find elsewhere. It is frighteningly expensive, and unfortunately is worth it, so that’s a special treat. At the height of salmon season, WF will sell wild-caught Alaskan salmon at good prices. </p>
<p>The spouse points out that the checkers are always a little odd. Sometimes a little too hip and cool to deal with us mere mortals, sometimes friendly but with uncommon-for-the-area body modifications.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, just yesterday here on the east coast I found myself inadvertently in the Kosher aisle at ShopRite. For someone who knows little about Kosher foods, I’d say that the selection was broad and I’d bet they beat the WF store on prices by a mile.</p>
<p>I loved them when I shopped at their first small funky store in Austin, TX back in 1980. But they have gotten overpriced and don’t carry many of the basic brands I like. We do use them when we need something unusual like 250 chicken drummettes.</p>
<p>For a special meal, we can’t get better fresh meats. For a party, we like the cheese variety.
For everyday grocery shopping, Costco, Giant and Harris Teeter.</p>
<p>I love the people at Whole Foods. It has a high concentration of people with colored hair, piercings, and tattoos. This adds to the Whole Foods Shopping experience.</p>
<p>I work at a normal grocery store and it gets so boring to work there sometimes. Every other cashier is a 55+ lady who has nothing better to do than to complain about my nails that are painted neon green and black, and that I have too many bracelets and rings on.</p>
<p>LakeWashington, thanks for the thought, but here on the west coast there are very few options for organic, free-range kosher chicken. There are more options on the east coast, but in all cases going for something which is kosher and not factory farmed is more expensive. That’s a premium we’ve opted to pay. The only way to manage the cost is to eat meat less frequently, which is what we do. </p>
<p>It’s not just a kosher issue, of course; Niman Ranch meat is going to cost more than the mass market equivalent.</p>
<p>I think Whole Foods varies a lot from place to place, possibly depending on the ambience promoted by store management. There are several WFs in my area and some are pleasant to shop in and some are not–all are expensive, but they not consistent in quality or selection of produce, for example, and my local one has a surprisingly limited cheese selection (obviously I don’t live near mominva!)–weak on good cheddar, okay on fondue ingredients, but overall not better in either quality or choice than a good Harris Teeter, an average Wegmans, or even a large Kings (New Jersey chain).</p>
<p>We are lucky to have other good supermarket chains in the area so shoppers with time, inclination, and enough money can get similar produce (both organic and conventional) and (usually) better-presented meat at the other place. At this point I mostly just use WF as a source for reasonably priced organic milk that hasn’t been ultra-pasteurized. I used to like WF a lot, but I think of it now as a pretentious place with a lot of stuff that sometimes doesn’t taste as good as it looks, and service is uneven as well. Also, as another poster noted, the chain’s definition of locally grown is very generous–as in, the same time zone or general climate. Not local in any meaningful sense, and that is the case in summer too, when “local” could be expected to be very specific. Wegmans (not my local chain, alas, but a great place to visit) does a better job identifying really local produce by its source than my local Whole Foods does.</p>
<p>Whole Foods accomodates gluten-free diets like no other supermarket in our area…if Shop Rite or any other common supermarket would get their act together, we wouldn’t need Whole Foods…but for now, it’s the only place to get many of the foods that one needs to comply with GF…that being said, I have heard that they are in serious financial straits and would be more than happy if Wegman’s came into Northern NJ…</p>
<p>Whole Foods has had to address prices recently as it has not been doing well. From what I’ve read in the business press they are lowering prices. Interesting to see consumers are not feeling this yet.</p>
<p>The closest Whole foods to me is 45 minutes away. I visited it a couple of times but was not impressed. The same area has a TJ’s and Costco and I would rather spend my limited shopping time there.</p>
<p>I love our Whole Foods store. I don’t do my entire shopping there because they don’t carry many things that I buy. You can’t beat them for meat, seafood, produce, though, as far as quality goes. I particularly love their cheese department (better than I’ve seen anywhere and we have a lot of specialty stores in the area) and bakery. The store is ALWAYS busy and incredibly successful here.</p>