Whole Foods

[bluedogok]

Not sure what happened to that thread. I'm just saying there are ways to get around the law and WF in Tulsa being adjacent to a large, upscale liquor/wine store is almost like having it in the same place. You just have to walk outside (through a covered patio) and pay at two separate registers. You don't have to move your car though, and you could also go to the Food Pyramid (former Albertson's) next door.

That is how the liquor stores next to the Costco's here in Austin are setup, other than sharing a parking lot and sharing a couple of common walls (with no doors connecting the spaces) there is no connection to Costco other than paying rent for the space. That was what the owner of the one at the South Austin "Costco" liquor store told me, the north side store is owned by another local guy renting space from Costco.

To me that is not "getting around the law" that is nothing more than operating legally within the framework of the law. Liquor stores locate in strip centers all the time and more than one are close to a 7-11 or some other store and many times you will see the same person going into both getting various items that go together, that is the ridiculous part about the Oklahoma law, not allowing them to sell cold beer or "accessories".

[mugofbeer]

Thanks for that link. That was a fascinating article on the "Secret World of Trader Joe's." After reading that from Fortune, I'm even more surprised they could open a store in Omaha. If distribution is a "problem" in Texas and Florida, how can they easily do Nebraska?

The relevant paragraph about new stories in an otherwise very long article:

"This distribution process helps determine where the company opens its stores. Texas and Florida have cities that boast consumers Trader Joe's covets, but insiders say the current distribution infrastructure makes it difficult for the company to efficiently get products to those states. To pick their next locales, employees look at demographics such as education level. In the past they've even looked at who's subscribing to high-end food and cooking magazines as a way of divining where the epicures are."

I don't know if you've ever been to Omaha, but it's a pretty nice place with a lot of concentrated wealth. There are less people there but from what I saw, they aremore affluent than in OKC in the broad sense.

[soonerguru]

You know, I visited Trader Joe's after the fanfare here and elsewhere and found it to be less than everything and a bag of chips. No great loss that it's not here. WF is definitely the superior store.

[ljbab728]

Gourmet is no longer in publication. Really sad, it was a great magazine.

We'll just have to stick with Food and Wine then.

[ljbab728]

A place to get wings and Cici's Pizza on site? Not exactly what we're pining for.

Different people pine for different thing soonerguru. Are you speaking for everyone? If all you got out of looking at the website was wings and Cici's you didn't look too closely. I just said it looks interesting, I didn't say it should be our next big project to acquire. Surely you don't think that everyone in OKC will be shopping at Whole Foods. I might go there occasionally if looking for something special but it would never be a place for my main weekly shopping trips. It will just be too expensive for staples.

[BG918]

I don't know if you've ever been to Omaha, but it's a pretty nice place with a lot of concentrated wealth. There are less people there but from what I saw, they aremore affluent than in OKC in the broad sense.

Definitely, Omaha is a very wealthy city for its size. There are several F500 companies headquartered there and it's also a regional financial/business hub. I am not surprised they have a Trader Joe's and many of the other upscale stores they have for being a metro under 1 million.

[urbanity]

Commentary: A grape idea
http://www.okgazette.com/article/08-...rape_idea.aspx

[metro]

You know, I visited Trader Joe's after the fanfare here and elsewhere and found it to be less than everything and a bag of chips. No great loss that it's not here. WF is definitely the superior store.

I too prefer WF over TJ but I think the ones that prefer TJ's were because it is more affordable and would appeal to more of OKC's Walmart price driven shoppers.

[MikeOKC]

I don't know if you've ever been to Omaha, but it's a pretty nice place with a lot of concentrated wealth. There are less people there but from what I saw, they aremore affluent than in OKC in the broad sense.

Hi Mug,

I didn't question Omaha as a site for Trader Joe's. I've posted about my trips to Omaha and how it's a great city. If you look at my post again I was questioning the company and what they said in the Forbes article about distribution in Texas and Florida being a problem. So I asked how can distribution to Texas and Florida can be a problem, but Nebraska is somehow convenient? Maybe I wasn't very clear, but I agree with you completely about the city of Omaha.

[soonerguru]

Different people pine for different thing soonerguru. Are you speaking for everyone? If all you got out of looking at the website was wings and Cici's you didn't look too closely. I just said it looks interesting, I didn't say it should be our next big project to acquire. Surely you don't think that everyone in OKC will be shopping at Whole Foods. I might go there occasionally if looking for something special but it would never be a place for my main weekly shopping trips. It will just be too expensive for staples.

Of course. I would never argue that people don't have different tastes. The point is that chicken wings and Cici's Pizza are widely available in OKC. We have like six Buffalo Wild Wings locations and several Cici's Pizza locations. My comment was that the activity associated with bringing Whole Foods and similar retailers raises the quality of life in OKC. Adding Cici's Pizza and chicken wings only adds to our collective obese image. Personally, I like a good chicken wing now and then.

[ljbab728]

Of course. I would never argue that people don't have different tastes. The point is that chicken wings and Cici's Pizza are widely available in OKC. We have like six Buffalo Wild Wings locations and several Cici's Pizza locations. My comment was that the activity associated with bringing Whole Foods and similar retailers raises the quality of life in OKC. Adding Cici's Pizza and chicken wings only adds to our collective obese image. Personally, I like a good chicken wing now and then.

And I suspect you've even had a pizza before?

[soonerguru]

And I suspect you've even had a pizza before?

Plenty. Happen to be a big fan of it, and Cici's is among the worst pizza I've ever eaten.

[Platemaker]

I'd suspect the vast majority of Oklahoma Citians would agree that CiCi's is terrible.... that's only a place you take your kids to get 'em fed quickly and to shut up.

[Larry OKC]

Cicis is ok for the price...most of the time on the same level of most microwave frozen stuff. That said, there is a vast difference between pizza off the buffet and if you order one (if not already on the buffet)...not sure why it degrades so much so fast sitting on the buffet, but that is about the only way to explain it.

[oneforone]

CiCi's is more of a quick service place than it is anything else. There whole goal is to crank out cookie cutter pizza's as fast as they can. Expecting great tasting gourmet pizza at CiCi's is like expecting top shelf seafood and steak at Golden Corral. CiCi's and Little Ceasars are the McDonald's and Burger King of the Pizza business.

[OKCisOK4me]

Cicis is ok for the price...most of the time on the same level of most microwave frozen stuff. That said, there is a vast difference between pizza off the buffet and if you order one (if not already on the buffet)...not sure why it degrades so much so fast sitting on the buffet, but that is about the only way to explain it.

Umm, yeah, sorry for the continuation of hijacking this thread but Cici's is not that bad. Compared to Pizza Hut, Little Ceasar's and Mazzios, a pepperoni pizza from Cici's is pretty darn good--especially for hangovers (packed with a crapload of grease)! And I like it because, yeah, it's only 15 minutes tops to wait for a pizza to be made. If I want primo pizza, I'll do Papa John's (which actually, if you pick one up, it's only a 20 minute wait).

I'd agree that the buffet isn't all that great but they sure are popular. There's one in the shopping center where I work and from 2-4pm when they have $2 all you can eat buffet, that place is PACKED!

[soonerguru]

Sweet Jesus what does Cici's have to do with Whole Foods? Threadjack over. Start a Cici's Pizza thread if debating the quality of that subpar restaurant is interesting to you.

[OKCisOK4me]

Sweet Jesus what does Cici's have to do with Whole Foods? Threadjack over. Start a Cici's Pizza thread if debating the quality of that subpar restaurant is interesting to you.

YO! DID YOU NOT SEE THE FIRST SENTENCE??? Chill!!

[Larry OKC]

Sweet Jesus what does Cici's have to do with Whole Foods? Threadjack over. Start a Cici's Pizza thread if debating the quality of that subpar restaurant is interesting to you.

Well, since it looks like YOU were the one that mentioned CiCi's in conjunction with Whole Foods to begin with, don't see blaming the rest of us for following the stream-of-consciousness of the thread...just saying...

A place to get wings and Cici's Pizza on site? Not exactly what we're pining for.

[metro]

seriously can we get back to WF? I keep checking the thread since it shows updates hoping someone has found renderings or something and still griping about CiCi's.

[Swake2]

If I want primo pizza, I'll do Papa John's

God help you. Where do you go to get a "primo" steak? Chili's? In the real world Papa John's is barely passable cheap delivery pizza and Cici's is garbage that's isn't worth putting into your mouth for any price, even free.

I'm thinking you aren't Whole Foods target audience.

[Spartan]

I'm thinking you aren't Whole Foods target audience.

How long did it take you to reach that conclusion about some posters on here?

[Soonerinfiniti]

Visited the new WF in Dallas (near Northpark) - huge store! They were having a party (live music, free hamburgers) but inside they not only had a tremendous selection of wine/beer (600 + kinds of beer! A cold beer aisle that made me never want to leave!), but they had free wine tastings - three of them! I know we won't have that here (thanks liquor lobby!) but it really was a cool store. Kind of funky parking, site plan, but any grocery store that has a bar area with draft beer is OK with me!

[metro]

That's there flagship store Parklane. Very nice.

[bluedogok]

It will more than likely be the last one of that type they build for quite awhile. I know the proposed store in The Domain here was supposed to be similar to the Downtown Austin store under the HQ tower and the Park Lane store but there is talk that it might shrink. It would still be bigger than The Gateway store is is slated to replace and bigger than the other stores recently announced near me in South Austin, Lakeway and The Hill Country Galleria. Those three stores are supposed to be right about the same size as the OKC store.