Whole Foods confirms Des Moines store

**Broodwich** · 05-04-2011, 04:10 PM

It’s official: Whole Foods settles on West Des Moines location, will open in 2012 | Des Moines Register Staff Blogs

In the Water Tower Place in West Des Moines next to Best Buy.

**brokenloginagain** · 05-04-2011, 04:14 PM

everyone will soon get to experience why its often referred to as "whole paycheck."

**jsmith86** · 05-04-2011, 04:18 PM

Whole Foods is awesome. I'm about half a mile away from the one here in Tulsa. The trick is to not try to buy everything there. Their selection for fresh fruit and vegetables is much much better than that of any of the other grocery stores around here. Gotta watch out on buying meat there though. It costs about double or more to buy a steak there as compared with somewhere else.

**Al_4_State** · 05-04-2011, 04:19 PM

So basically its an expensive Trader Joe's?

If I want something really unique thats more high end, I'd probably just go for Gateway Market.

**BooneCy** · 05-04-2011, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by Al_4_State

So basically its an expensive Trader Joe's?

If I want something really unique thats more high end, I'd probably just go for Gateway Market.

It's a more mainstream Gateway Market. Both Whole Foods and Gateway are going after the same customer.

**thatguy** · 05-04-2011, 05:14 PM

Whole Foods is an excellent scam. They aint that great and are SOOOOO much more expensive. I guess i don't see the excitement, except for the fact it is Des Moines(ians?) pretending like they live in a real city.

**LindenCy** · 05-04-2011, 05:14 PM

Great news!

**gocubs2118** · 05-04-2011, 05:16 PM

I love Whole Foods but it's not a place to do your full blown grocery shopping at.

**cycloneSOULja** · 05-04-2011, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by Al_4_State

So basically its an expensive Trader Joe's?

If I want something really unique thats more high end, I'd probably just go for Gateway Market.

Whole Foods has a meat counter, and an awesome seafood counter. They also have a ton more variety than Gateway Market, especially with their produce.

As far as the on the shelf stuff (canned and dried goods), they are very similar.

I love going to Whole Foods and getting sushi grade fish, and making homemade sushi. Can I get that stuff at Trader Joes or Gateway Market?

Also, I'm not sure about this Whole Foods, but the Deli Area that makes their own homemade salads, breakfast burritos, soups, and sandwiches are awesome.

Most people can't afford to shop exclusivley at Whole Foods, but if you are looking for a special ingredient, or to make homemade sushi for a fraction of what you'd pay in a restaurant, it's worth it.

It will be interesting to see how this does in Des Moines, as people here don't see the value of organic foods and freshly flown in fish, as it doesn't really fit the culture.

**dmclone** · 05-04-2011, 05:35 PM

There are very few things that I want that Hy-Vee doesn't have. I guess my tastes are low.

**LonoClone** · 05-04-2011, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by cycloneSOULja

Whole Foods has a meat counter, and an awesome seafood counter. They also have a ton more variety than Gateway Market, especially with their produce.

As far as the on the shelf stuff (canned and dried goods), they are very similar.

I love going to Whole Foods and getting sushi grade fish, and making homemade sushi. Can I get that stuff at Trader Joes or Gateway Market?

Also, I'm not sure about this Whole Foods, but the Deli Area that makes their own homemade salads, breakfast burritos, soups, and sandwiches are awesome.

Most people can't afford to shop exclusivley at Whole Foods, but if you are looking for a special ingredient, or to make homemade sushi for a fraction of what you'd pay in a restaurant, it's worth it.

It will be interesting to see how this does in Des Moines, as people here don't see the value of organic foods and freshly flown in fish, as it doesn't really fit the culture.

I was originally excited to have a place to buy different kinds of foods, but wow the direction they go is crazy.

The majority of the people that post here are against Whole Foods and the couple people who are not get railed on, and then just push back defensivley and diss each other.

Equally upsetting is the fact that nobody on here posts reliable information. It's usually supported by a biased news source that just states an opinion.

It really is sad how counterproductive it is here. There are more similarities than differences in terms of the food provided on both sides of the aisle, yet we just divide ourselves.... and for what?

This is America, we are supposed to have different views. Why can't we have meaningful discussions that really get down to what the differences are, between grocery stores?

Even more disappointing, is that people just use soundbytes from their favorite local farmer to fuel their opinion. You people realize that these people have a shitck and it garners them millions of dollars right?

If you actually look at the choice in grocery stores and see what people are buying, both sides are not that different from each other in terms of what they actually put in their mouths. Maybe in their seasoning, but not their approach.

It also saddens me a great deal when people say we live in a organic tyranny, or that our food is full of pesticides. It isn't. All of the fundamentals are in place. There are many choices for the people to decide on when selecting what they will eat. We as Americans tend to be very narrow and not grasp what it means to eat exotic foods, or to experience a full on bout of dysentery, or to really understand what "organic" is.

I figured that we are smarter than the crap that spews in our media. It's fair to question and criticize everything that goes on our plates, but why must we go about it in a way in which we attack each other? And why can't we find common ground? Or good tomatoes out of season?

Our grocery stores will not change until the people who buy from them change.

We are damn lucky to be Americans, and able to spend time mud slinging each other over grocery stores and not having to worry about things that people in other countries do. Why can't we have some fun, get serious when needed, and try to work together? Also eat some ribeyes?

I'm sorry for the rant, but what happens on here is no different from what I see in the at restaurants. It's also no different from what the fast food industry wants us to do. They want us to be divided, have everything be 0 or 1, even though the similarties outweigh the differences, so they can sell more Big Macs.

We are a generally educated group that lives in the midwest. We are kind people and we resort to such juvenile stuff when it comes to our grocery stores. We're better than that, and we're better than Aldi.

**jsmith86** · 05-04-2011, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by thatguy

Whole Foods is an excellent scam. They aint that great and are SOOOOO much more expensive. I guess i don't see the excitement, except for the fact it is Des Moines(ians?) pretending like they live in a real city.

We get that you are a ****** from Denver. It gets old.

**dmclone** · 05-04-2011, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by jsmith86

We get that you are a ****** from Denver. It gets old.

Agree

**Three4Cy** · 05-04-2011, 06:19 PM

While I think it's great we're getting a Whole Foods in WDSM, I am not overly excited about the location. The strip mall is a zoo, parking is terrible, and the Best Buy is crazy busy there. Quite honestly would have loved it had they gone in the old Stein Mart building on 35th street across from Valley West. All in all, this is a nice addition to the DSM metro and wouldn't surprise me to see another one in Ankeny eventually.