urbanMSP

When I walked by it the other day, I'm amazed at how large it is. Can't wait for their salad bar!

Just a reminder, the Whole Foods grand opening is tomorrow 9/25 at 8AM. Plan to go there after work to take a look. A fun article about it in the StarTribune from 9/21.
http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 45131.html

When I worked on Sunday, as I drove by, I saw a lot of people in the store doing prep work.
When I was on the roof of the building where I work, I noticed that there seem to be a lot of residents that enjoy the amenities on the roof deck; pool, grills, lawn bowling, etc. The pool lights change color too. Kind of hokey, but it stands out.

went by last night and this intersection now has this wonderful amenity with all of this activity. lights up that corner. they've put in lots of tables and chairs on the washington ave sidewalk. all of the landscaping around this project looks really nice.

^^^ Lots of activity and a bustling corner now! Walked through it today and its a great store. The aisles are wide and the layout is easy to navigate. Has an industrial chic interior that fits in well with the North Loop. Will undoubtedly be a huge success and a great addition to downtown. It would be nice if it spurred large scale projects on the vacant lots to the north and south.

I like some of what Whole Foods offers as a store and I love what it does to the neighborhood, but those prices! I'll go in with the idea that I'm only getting the essentials and I end up spending over $100 -- it's like magic!

That's why it's called Whole Paycheck!

Nice! Or, "Whole Funds".

My girlfriend and I stopped in yesterday evening to get some dinner from their Deli. Two sandwiches, a side of potato salad, and two drinks ran us over $27...

My girlfriend and I stopped in yesterday evening to get some dinner from their Deli. Two sandwiches, a side of potato salad, and two drinks ran us over $27...

Two people could easily rack up a $25 dollar bill at Chipotle, and you know you're getting high quality food and ingredients, I don't think it's that surprising.

Eh, I find their deli and grab and go type stuff to be pretty underwhelming and VERY overpriced for what it is. I would much rather spend $25 at Lunds(love their deli items) or even Chipotle like you mention. That is just me. Not a big fan of Whole Foods...but I am very glad they are at this corner now!

yes it's spendy. there just a few items i will go out my way to buy at whole foods. i think their fresh pizza is really good. their produce dept is good. i agree lunds has a better deli overall.

Hey, it's expensive to not raise animals in a crap-covered crate, pump them with drugs, kill 'em, pump 'em with more chemicals in a factory, and them sell 'em while paying your employees a living wage with benefits.

Hey, it's expensive to not raise animals in a crap-covered crate, pump them with drugs, kill 'em, pump 'em with more chemicals in a factory, and them sell 'em while paying your employees a living wage with benefits.

While also trying to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act...

Correct, but I guess my point was that we shouldn't ask why Whole Foods is expensive but rather why all the food at Target ending in "-erz" is so cheap. Snackerz and biterz and muncherz...yikes. Anyway, OT.

If you go shopping at Whole Foods long enough , you can learn how to make your grocery bill cheaper by using there generic brand, and , if you want, not buying so many already prepared food which tends to be much more expensive. However, I do like their salad bar because I can select a variety of vegetables to last just a few days without having to buy larger quantities (which tend to end up rotting in the back of my refrigerator)

If you're not set on certain brands, like cereal for example, and go with the weekly specials, Lunds and Whole Foods aren't that bad. They're also way more convenient, not having to go through a massive supermarket and decide which of 50 different pasta sauces you want.

A friend of mine who works in 101 Washington said it's been amazing to see the foot traffic to the intersection over night. He said the area has a whole different feel and tons of people. We can complain about the building and the expense of food, but lets really hope this is truly a game changer for The Gateway. Right now you have to pass a surface lot or under-utilized park to get to this resource from nearly every direction. BUILD MOAR!

I won't be back in town until the holidays and would love to see a picture of the foot traffic, if anyone is around the area during busy hours.

Yes Fotoapparatic, Build More! I really hope Whole Foods spurs some large-scale residential development on the vacant lots to the north and south of 222. And I would really like to see an urban REI on Washington near the Whole Foods, along with some other big name hipster retail. IMO, the opening of the big Whole Foods store signifies the North Loop has reached a threshold for all this to happen.