Whole Foods Eyeing central Iowa

[clonechemist]

Whole Foods actually is the CHEAPEST option for many foods that aren't big sellers in traditional supermarkets. Two examples:

Clif Bars
WF has a huge variety of flavors, all for $0.99 per individual bar. I've even tried looking for bulk purchase options on the internet, but it's impossible to beat the WF price.

Meatless products
My WF is right across the street from a traditional grocery store, and the veggie burgers/fake chicken costs a solid 20% more at the traditional place.


You will pay a premium for meat and produce there, but the quality is in my opinion much more consistent than at other stores. It's very rare that I ended up tossing produce bought at WF. This happens much more often with produce bought elsewhere.

[capitalcityguy]

East Village Launches Battle Against Box Stores - Des Moines News Story - KCCI Des Moines

Doesn't appear the East Village is into Big Box retail stores. Other issue is parking, city code is going to require so many parking spots based on the size of the building, not sure where you will find that much space in the East Village.

The WFM I've been in are typically in strip centers with a few other big stores (Bed, Bath and Beyond, Kohl's, etc.) it appears they like to be around other speciality retailers. I've been in the one's in Overland Park and San Antonio, so don't know about other places.

Space? The most obvious is the brand new 5 story mixed use building on the corner of Grand Avenue and 3rd. The entire street level is commercial space (Whole Foods would only need 1/3 to 1/2 of it…I'd guess) and last time I drove by, all the bays still had "For lease" signs. There is ample on street parking, not to mention a parking lot in the back of the building.

The only Whole Foods I've been to was in Washington DC and it was situated in the middle of a city block with much less parking then would be available at this East Village location

Also: if they allowed a Jimmy John's, I think they'd be OK with a Whole Foods IMO.

[Three4Cy]

Space? The most obvious is the brand new 5 story mixed use building on the corner of Grand Avenue and 3rd. The entire street level is commercial space (Whole Foods would only need 1/3 to 1/2 of it…I'd guess) and last time I drove by, all the bays still had "For lease" signs. There is ample on street parking, not to mention a parking lot in the back of the building.

The only Whole Foods I've been to was in Washington DC and it was situated in the middle of a city block with much less parking then would be available at this East Village location

Also: if they allowed a Jimmy John's, I think they'd be OK with a Whole Foods IMO.

They made an exception for Jimmy John's, and not a big box store.

You have to look at the building - does it have a loading dock, and how easy would it be to build a loading pit for the semi's to back into and unload product? How easy is it for a semi to maneuver in and out of the area? How much is it going to cost to tear up the building to lay lines for refrigeration for all your coolers (meat, dairy, produce, bakery, deli counter). You need water lines for the frozen food and produce cases, heavy duty electrical for baking ovens, running electrical to cash registers, all your coolers, upgraded HVAC systems, higher ceilings than a typical 5 story building. Also, is the building zoned for retail grocery, and would they need to change it. You have to have room for multiple trash compactors outside the building. Does the building have enough fire entrances/exits, probably have to add additional sprinklers for the sprinkler system.

All you water lines, and electrical need to be trenched in the floor, so you immediately have to tear up the floor to do all the trenching work, and that costs $$$$. Your parking lot behind the building is going to be taken up by employees and all the other "stuff" that goes along with a grocery store + the delivery trucks going in and out everyday, that is the last place you want customers parking, that is an insurance nightmare.

This is not a store you can just come in and slap some shelves up, plug in a few cash registers and call it good, it costs big $$$ to build a grocery store, and my inkling would be they could build a building cheaper than remodeling this space in the East Village and have exactly what they want. They also want 25,000 to 50,000 square feet in a stand alone building - this is a box store. Based on their criteria, East Village doesn't fit their profile.

Real Estate Development | WholeFoodsMarket.com

[dmclone]

They made an exception for Jimmy John's, and not a big box store.

You have to look at the building - does it have a loading dock, and how easy would it be to build a loading pit for the semi's to back into and unload product? How easy is it for a semi to maneuver in and out of the area? How much is it going to cost to tear up the building to lay lines for refrigeration for all your coolers (meat, dairy, produce, bakery, deli counter). You need water lines for the frozen food and produce cases, heavy duty electrical for baking ovens, running electrical to cash registers, all your coolers, upgraded HVAC systems, higher ceilings than a typical 5 story building. Also, is the building zoned for retail grocery, and would they need to change it. You have to have room for multiple trash compactors outside the building. Does the building have enough fire entrances/exits, probably have to add additional sprinklers for the sprinkler system.

All you water lines, and electrical need to be trenched in the floor, so you immediately have to tear up the floor to do all the trenching work, and that costs $$$$. Your parking lot behind the building is going to be taken up by employees and all the other "stuff" that goes along with a grocery store + the delivery trucks going in and out everyday, that is the last place you want customers parking, that is an insurance nightmare.

This is not a store you can just come in and slap some shelves up, plug in a few cash registers and call it good, it costs big $$$ to build a grocery store, and my inkling would be they could build a building cheaper than remodeling this space in the East Village and have exactly what they want. They also want 25,000 to 50,000 square feet in a stand alone building - this is a box store. Based on their criteria, East Village doesn't fit their profile.

Real Estate Development | WholeFoodsMarket.com

Abundant parking available for our exclusive use
Easy access from roadways, lighted intersection


Looks like this has west side written all over it.

[CTTB78]

Friends of mine in California never refer to it as Whole Foods, only Whole Paycheck.

Neat store to visit if you extra cash to spend on over priced food.

[capitalcityguy]

They made an exception for Jimmy John's, and not a big box store.

You have to look at the building - does it have a loading dock, and how easy would it be to build a loading pit for the semi's to back into and unload product? How easy is it for a semi to maneuver in and out of the area? How much is it going to cost to tear up the building to lay lines for refrigeration for all your coolers (meat, dairy, produce, bakery, deli counter). You need water lines for the frozen food and produce cases, heavy duty electrical for baking ovens, running electrical to cash registers, all your coolers, upgraded HVAC systems, higher ceilings than a typical 5 story building. Also, is the building zoned for retail grocery, and would they need to change it. You have to have room for multiple trash compactors outside the building. Does the building have enough fire entrances/exits, probably have to add additional sprinklers for the sprinkler system.

All you water lines, and electrical need to be trenched in the floor, so you immediately have to tear up the floor to do all the trenching work, and that costs $$$$. Your parking lot behind the building is going to be taken up by employees and all the other "stuff" that goes along with a grocery store + the delivery trucks going in and out everyday, that is the last place you want customers parking, that is an insurance nightmare.

This is not a store you can just come in and slap some shelves up, plug in a few cash registers and call it good, it costs big $$$ to build a grocery store, and my inkling would be they could build a building cheaper than remodeling this space in the East Village and have exactly what they want. They also want 25,000 to 50,000 square feet in a stand alone building - this is a box store. Based on their criteria, East Village doesn't fit their profile.

Real Estate Development | WholeFoodsMarket.com

Not may area of expertise, so I'm big enough to step down at this point.

I did think I read though, they don't like to construct their own building but rather prefer to go into existing structures.