The Montrose Whole Foods media frenzy has begun! Did the company’s Walmart-alum store-development manager really tell the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff that Whole Foods decided not to build the store at Waugh and West Dallas on top of 2 levels of structured parking because “the amount of concrete required . . . would have created a ‘huge heat island'”? Meanwhile, bullet-pointed fact sheets announce the 45,000-sq.-ft. store’s smaller-scale innovations: Like LED lighting, 2 electric-vehicle chargers out front, a bike station with tools and an air pump, and much more parking lot than you’ll find in front of the Kirby store. Plus: fascinating facts, like the number of linear feet devoted to prepared items in the chef case (18), bulk foods (44), a beer cooler (32), and smoked seafood (8)! Take a look for yourself:
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It can now be revealed: The $18 million store at 701 Waugh will have at least 8 new bars. Count ’em: coffee, cheese, tacos, antipasti and olives, hot foods, salad, barbecue (8-10 varieties each day, self-serve), and yes — an actual wine and beer one too. Plenty of signs on hand announcing how great it is when you’re able to find local food products, too.
The official opening day is still set for Wednesday the 22nd, though “previews” are ongoing.
- Whole Foods will soon open new location in Montrose has the latest Green features on every aisle [Houston Chronicle]
- Sneak Peek at Whole Foods Montrose [Eating Our Words]
- Previously on Swamplot: , This Kind of Whole Foods Thing, Getting Real on Waugh at West Dallas This Weekend, North Montrose Whole Foods’ Rendezvous with Groceries, Austin Powers the New North Montrose Whole Foods, The New Whole Foods at West Dallas and Waugh, Whole Foods Galleria and North Montrose: Still on Track, In and Around the New North Montrose Whole Foods, A Few Signs the Montrose Whole Foods Market Is On Its Way
Photos: Candace Garcia
Well I guess my neighbors and I in the neighborhood no one knows what to call (Vermont Commons / Park) can now refer to our neighborhood as “the midpoint between the Kirby Whole Foods and the Waugh Whole Foods”.
Rolls right off the tongue.
So many thanks to Whole Foods Montrose for including Lucky Dog Rescue in their grand opening Community Giving Days. Come out on Saturday, June 25th and support Lucky Dog. 1% of that day’s net sales will be donated to Lucky Dog. We’ll be there, and so will some of our dogs.
do they accept food stamps?
No matter how fancy this new store is the best whole foods in Houston in my mind if the Westheimer + Wilcrest location. All of the goodness without the snobs.
Been a long time coming. Having to go all the way to the Kirby location was really inconvenient and once you get there, the parking is just a mess. This is a perfect location for Whole Foods, right across the street from FIT athletic club and all the multifamily development surrounding the area.
Great day!
I am still amazed that nobody called that Doofus out for claiming that a massive surface parking lot creates less of a heat island than a compact store with parking underneath! As Seth Myers would say, “REALLY?”
Yeah, this store looks great but that comment was just bizzare. Really Whole Foods? You’re defending a massive impermeable surface lot as a “green” choice?
That cracked me up too, doofus! Must be the same person that calculated the median drainage fee.
Joel– nice one!
Hmm, I wonder how it’s possible for such a fantastic store with amazing landscaping, LEED certification, and even car-charging stations to be built without a $5,000,000.00 tax-free incentive from Mayor Parker? We should expect even better from Ainbinder and the Heights WalMart, right? LOL, yeah right.
I preferred the company when it was a single store hippy co-op and not some slick Nieman Marcus food emporium with a corrupt CEO.
Weren’t we whining a few months ago about how this area has so many grocery stores?
I think that had more to do with there being actual food deserts in this city. I don’t think anyone would begrudge Montrose its overabundance of grocery stores if EVERYONE had at least one decent grocery store less than a mile from their homes.
I’ll be a regular here but too bad they didn’t use permeable paving for the monster parking lot. They have used them for a few other stores around the US. I, along with many other shoppers, will save 5 miles round trip by not going to Kirby. I suppose that’s worth some green stamps.
Looks expensive.
Wonder if they sell corndogs that aren’t tofu?
What is mocha java? Don’t tell me it’s coffee for $14 bucks a pound. Really?
hdtex: this store does retain some of the hippie-co-op vibe – I saw more than a few tattoos and nose rings (sigh…) when I took a tour on Saturday. And if this place seems expensive to you (yes, the “WholePaycheck” reputation is not unfounded) then you can get your affordable food at (gasp) the new WalMart.
That fan is called The Big Ass Fan.
http://www.bigassfans.com/residential/index.html
the skylights are a good idea.
Haha we told a rather drunken friend that they planned on having midget dancers in their shadow boxes dancing, he actually believed that until we about fell out of the car laughing. Still curious what they intend to do with those?
Yea, they had those fans all over california. its amazing houston is finally getting a whole foods it deserves.
@Jon, of course it’s Ainbinder getting the tax break, not Walmart. Google Marvy Finger. He is the developer who owns the land Whole Foods are building on. Developers are developers, they all try and get everything they can out of the deal. Don’t try to paint one as somehow better than another just because of your personal preference in grocery stores.
Jimbo, I referenced Ainbinder. Just because developers try and get everything they can doesn’t mean that a “broke” city should give it to them. The Ainbinder project would not be happening without WalMart as an anchor. Your comments still don’t address my question: Shouldn’t we actually expect an even better development than the Whole Foods from a developer (Ainbinder) with $5M extra dollars in his pocket?
Wow, Central Market is really pretty in these pictures!