From the AIG tower neighboring to the north, a reader peers down behind the construction fencing now up at the corner of Waugh Dr. and D’Amico St., in an effort to figure out what might be gettin’ real in the Whole Foods Montrose parking lot. An employee tells Swamplot over the phone that the store is planting additional parking spaces on top of what was previously a walkway lined with grass and picnic tables, adding parking has been a squeeze on the weekends (which lines up pretty well with earlier reports from the scene). The rep also says that the tables (positioned across Waugh from BMW service garage Bavarian Machine Specialties and catty-corner to the health-and-beauty-shop-laden strip center across D’amico), were almost never used. Permits for the pave-over were issued at the end of May.
- Previously on Swamplot: Later on Opening Day: Whole Foods Montrose Afternoon Parking Report; Opening Day: It’s Getting Real Crowded at the Montrose Whole Foods Parking Lot, Beer, Wine, Art, and BBQ on Tap: Here’s Your New Whole Foods Market, Montrose, This Kind of Whole Foods Thing, Getting Real on Waugh at West Dallas This Weekend,
Photos: Randy Saad (top), Swamplot inbox (bottom photo showing opening day, 2011)
so much for being Eco-friendly and “all-natural” ….
Speaking of parking at supermarkets, I love the Montrose HEB and the oak trees in the parking lot are beautiful but I can never find a spot in there…
Grass getting pealed in the Whole Foods parking lot
Ground getting sealed in the Whole Foods parking lot
Need parking so they ‘doze
It’s getting real on the northside of Montrose
What a shame.
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WR, don’t blame them. They’re responding to the market and the market has a bunch of people who pile into cars. If on weekends they run out of spots, and lose business, then thy have a decision to make. Sad but true.
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So long as the amount of parking is dictated by the business itself and not some city pinhead, it’s fine with me. I’d love to have a small restaurant with NO parking and deal with the repercussions to my business. I’d use the parking area for green space instead. And if that meant less customer, that’s my problem. But no, the city requires a billion f’ing spots for each business. It’s ridiculous.
@Cody…. If Whole Foods can’t turn a weekend profit with the the 200+ parking spaces they have on tap, they have a problem, but make no mistake – this is about profit, nothing else. It’s a shitstorm of people already with the spaces they have, but if you can bulldoze a couple crape myrtles here and there, get rid of a couple outdoor picnic tables so youn cram another 20 spaces into the lot for folks with fat wallets and a healthy appetite, then…..Shareholders rejoice !
the tables were just far enough from the bus stop that if you sat there you could miss your bus.
Why there was never a parking garage built to begin with is beyond me. They could have built a 4 story parking garage, placed the front entrance (without any parking) to Whole Foods along Dallas, and built sidewalk-accessed retail space along Waugh for other establishments.
This is why Houston (even “urban” Houston) will always feel suburban.
C.L.: Yeah, it’s about profit. I’d assume that’s why they opened their store to begin with. It’s their job to respond to the market. If there is a demand for more spots — more so than a parklet, then they’d be foolish to disregard the request.
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You say “it’s about profit!” as if that’s some bad thing. I assume that’s why you work?
Orang Bodoh: Quite right that the HEB at Dunleavy has the same problem. They recently restriped all the spaces on the western edge as “compact only” and I routinely see full-sized pickups and SUVs cramming themselves in there. A couple of weeks ago a woman parked her F-150 across two spaces as I was pushing my cart to my car. When I remarked “compact – really?” to her she sheepishly jumped back in and drove towards the back of the lot. I won’t park my MINI in one of the spaces out of fear I’ll have to climb in through the hatchback to get back in when I’m done shopping.