Whole Foods

[Pete]

Looking at the webcam, you can see the crowds have died substantially.

At most times, you can see at least a few empty spaces in the main lot in front of the store.

Still plenty busy, but not need-a-traffic-cop busy.

[iMAX386]

How are their pizzas? Want to take advantage of that deal if they're worth checking out.

[Debzkidz]

I've not had their pizzas, but according to my son, they area very good. He worked near one in DC and said he would often go there and have their pizza for lunch.

[metro]

They are good, and at least they use high quality, low processed ingredients unlike the chains. I wouldn't call this deal a steal, but it is a good value

[OKCTalker]

A cashier told me that they have light traffic 8:00 - 9:30 a.m., and then a rush for the remainder of the day. Pretty packed when I arrived last night at 7:30. YMMV.

[soonerguru]

Went again tonight with the family. This was the second time we checked out the prepared foods area. Disappointing to say the least. Having been to multiple WF locations, I can honestly say the prepared foods in the OKC store so far are leaving a lot to be desired.

We sat in the patio dining area to eat and there was no music. Just dead air. It was discomfiting and weird. The store is lacking in many ways but I'm hopeful it will step up its game soon.

The fresh seafood has me the most excited but so far I actually like the store in Tulsa better, mainly for the single consolidated prepared food area (with better quality food and a more inviting atmosphere). I'm not giving up on WF yet.

[shriekingviolet]

I never got on with the Tulsa store because of how cramped the interior aisles are (holy claustrophobia Batman!).

I just tried the pizzas at Whole Foods and am quite impressed. They're quite gorgeous to look upon and the toppings are fresh and lovely. I didn't take advantage of the full pie for $9.99 deal, but their pizza by the pound is priced quite reasonably. I got two large slices of Pepperoni Pesto pizza for $3.44. I didn't ask if the pizzas they sell on Thursdays are the same size as the one they cut into to get my slices, but if they are $9.99 is a killer deal.

[the_Mont]

Had that pizza deal last night. It was delicious! I was really impressed with the store. The prices are about to be expected, but, having shopped at the Homeland at Britton and May for so long, I was kind of numb to high prices. Probably won't do the bulk of my shopping there, but the meat/fish selection was great, and the prepared foods sections look fantastic.

[bandnerd]

Mid and I went in today to see what it's all about. It was busy, but not as crazy as I expected. The larger store lets the people spread out, unlike Sunflower. There were so many cheeses at the cheese counter...I didn't know any of the ones I looked at. I felt uncultured. Get it? UNCULTURED? Anyway, I will definitely have to go back for the meat and cheese, perhaps the prepared foods, and Mid was definitely interested in the sushi so if anyone has feedback on that, I'm all ears.

[Questor]

The sushi I had was surprisingly good for a grocery store. But it's still grocery store sushi if that makes sense. I don't remember what I had... Maybe tuna and cream cheese.

[soonerguru]

I spoke to a Whole Foods employee who is not from OKC. She acknowledged the company totally underestimated how well received the store would be in OKC. In her words, she said the OKC store is a "Million Dollar" store and the company thought it would be a "300 Thousand Dollar" store. Not sure if this is daily, weekly or monthly gross, but her point was made.

She told me the OKC store is outperforming the 80,000 square foot Dallas NorthPark store by a large margin and that they should have actually switched the locations of the stores! She said the company now realizes they could have put the 80,000 square foot location in OKC instead of this cramped 35,000 square foot location.

She also said the prepared foods section in OKC is disappointing by WF standards and that the entire store layout was "not well thought through."

I appreciated her candor, but it sucks for OKC that we ended up getting the short end of the stick because the bean counters in Austin just thought we were a bunch of yokel Wal-Mart shoppers and really only came here because Aubrey bribed them.

She went on to say the store we have now is not an expandable footprint so WF will probably be building "2 to 3" more stores in the OKC area in the next year or so.

[semisimple]

She told me the OKC store is outperforming the 80,000 square foot Dallas NorthPark store by a large margin and that they should have actually switched the locations of the stores! She said the company now realizes they could have put the 80,000 square foot location in OKC instead of this cramped 35,000 square foot location.

The OKC WF has been open for less than two weeks--I wonder if a year from now, after the novelty wears off, OKC's WF will still be (allegedly) outperforming the Park Lane WF location. Not saying it won't remain successful...but it's not really fair to judge the success based on the rush of customers to the city's first WF. I frankly would question whether or not OKC would, in the long run, support a giant WF store like the Park Lane or the Austin flagship location.

[Dustin]

She went on to say the store we have now is not an expandable footprint so WF will probably be building "2 to 3" more stores in the OKC area in the next year or so.

3 would be perfect for the metro area.

[ChargerAg]

I don;t see how they could be building that many so fast. They would have to aquire buildings sites and come up with plans and then start construction. All which take longer then a year i would guess.

I visited again this weekend and they are out of alot of different things still but not as bad as the week before. Crowds were also down a bit but it was still busy for a Saturday night.

[soonerguru]

The OKC WF has been open for less than two weeks--I wonder if a year from now, after the novelty wears off, OKC's WF will still be (allegedly) outperforming the Park Lane WF location. Not saying it won't remain successful...but it's not really fair to judge the success based on the rush of customers to the city's first WF. I frankly would question whether or not OKC would, in the long run, support a giant WF store like the Park Lane or the Austin flagship location.

I understand your skepticism, but these bean counters know how to project based on inflated opening numbers. They expect opening numbers to be inflated and take that into account. What they didn't expect was that the numbers would be 60% to 70% above their inflated expectations.

Regarding the Park Lane location, it has underperformed their expectations. That said, there's a lot of competition in Dallas for the dollar, including more than 10 Whole Foods locations, Central Market, etc.

[metro]

I love the Park Lane location (been there 3x), but I agree it probably does under perform, it is not very busy every time I've been in there. I wish OOC had a Park Lane or Mockingbird station type development, but as you said, I think Dallas is at a point where it is self competing vs. meeting market demand.

[Goodengroup]

Whole Foods Grand Opening

[Urban Pioneer]

All I would say is closer to downtown please. Both WF and Sunflower would be welcomed with open arms near OCU or in proximity to where the Homeland is at Shartlel.

And we need a "anchor" "convenience grocer" on the new streetcar, light rail line that has higher quality foods. A Sunflower sized/type market would easily do well.

My guess is that both companies will take the same approach to everyone else and throw them in far-flung suburbs and continue to misunderstand the denser inner-city market which can support more.

[Spartan]

Tulsa is already getting #2?

[Questor]

OKC metro is starving for quality options, be it groceries or other things. Maybe marketers will start taking notice now.

Same thing happened with Natural Grocer in Norman... It has been insanely busy ever since opening.

I know folks get upset when locals eat at chains or shop at corporate stores but I think the reason why that is so prevalent here is because our locally owned options across the board are just so limited in quality. I hope more upscale business move to Oklahoma and cause everyone to up their game.

[soonerguru]

I did what I could to support locally owned grocers, but they never stepped up in the game. I doubt I ever spend a penny in Homeland again. Done. Still support Crest, but they have FAILED to bring in meats that aren't straight off the Tyson conveyer belt. I don't want to feed this crap to my family, so I'm doing my best to check out of the industrial food system, and to do that, I'll shop at Whole Foods and Sunflower. Crest, Buy 4 Less, and Homeland never did anything to meet this demand. They failed and I don't feel sorry for them, especially after politely asking them about this kind of food for years.

[Brett]

Got Flies?

I was in WF yesterday and counted no less than 10 flies that were buzzing around the barbeque buffet table located in the meat department. I even noticed employees trying to shoo away the flies.

Bon Appetit.

[EBAH]

All I would say is closer to downtown please. Both WF and Sunflower would be welcomed with open arms near OCU or in proximity to where the Homeland is at Shartlel.

And we need a "anchor" "convenience grocer" on the new streetcar, light rail line that has higher quality foods. A Sunflower sized/type market would easily do well.

My guess is that both companies will take the same approach to everyone else and throw them in far-flung suburbs and continue to misunderstand the denser inner-city market which can support more.

Could not agree more. Sunflower (or to a lesser extent for me, a WF) near the Homeland location at 18th and Classen or somewhere near the 23rd st corridor would be a god send! The potential market is huge and it would really make life easier for me.

[MDot]

Got Flies?

I was in WF yesterday and counted no less than 10 flies that were buzzing around the barbeque buffet table located in the meat department. I even noticed employees trying to shoo away the flies.

Bon Appetit.

Got milk?

[metro]

I've noticed WF still hasn't added the OKC location to their mobile apps. We need an email/ Facebook blitz to get them to add OKC to the locations page on their mobile apps.