They have great food there, but its difficult for me to justify shopping there and spending the extra money on major shopping trips. It would be my store of choice if I had the extra dough to spend on food, but am unfortunately not at that place with my budget yet. I don't recall every being dissatisfied with food I've gotten there, which is rare for most grocery stores.
Whole foods can save you money and often are fresher, particularly produce, meat and poultry, but certainly is not easy to buy them, unless you talk to your neighbors about how good could be for all joining forces and get whole foods for several families contributing to the fund that pays for them.
When I finally moved to a location that was close to Whole Foods I started hitting them up every now and then - but I really can't justify paying the excessive prices for things there. Not to mention the types of customers that it tends to attract are obnoxiously snooty. I almost get the impression that they don't mind paying the higher prices and consider it a means of weeding out customers they would rather not be shopping alongside. Sort of like how people go to Target to avoid Wal-Mart customers. As for the store itself - the produce is generally fresh and well stocked, but still way too over priced. There are three farmers markets near me that I can get even better produce than what Whole Foods sells for a fraction of the cost. I would buy their store brand "365" pantry items, such as canned goods and pastas and broths - they were all reasonably priced and surprisingly good quality. Those were one of the few things I would go there for specifically. Their dairy and eggs and cheeses, forget it. I'm not paying like $5+ for a carton of eggs, or like $6 for a gallon of milk. Their fresh meats - honestly that's nice they sell chicken that's never been frozen, but after trying it the taste didn't justify the extra costs imo. Not to mention those refrigerated cases they keep that stuff in are noticeably warmer than most other grocery stores - it made me nervous that the poultry was possibly getting spoiled. I skip past their wines (why bother when there's a Trader Joes right nearby that I can get a whole case of wine for what I would pay for one bottle at Whole Foods?). I also skip past all their medicines/supplements/cleaning products - all overpriced crap. Their freezer section is hit or miss - but there were no particular unique products that I would go there for, unlike Trader Joes. The only thing I really liked from their prepared foods was their layered black bean dip - which is really rich and tangy. But it was also like $8 or $9 for a small tray of it from what I recall.
I love Whole Foods, but unfortunately we don't have them around here where I live. I would actually have to drive 2 hours to get there. They are very expensive and I could never do all my shopping there. But whenever I'm in the city, I stop and browse. Usually I end up buying things that I can't find anywhere else (kombucha tea). We have a local co-op here that sells a lot of the same stuff as whole foods, but on a smaller scale. I can get bulk foods like beans and wheat there, and fresh organic vegetables.
Overall, I think whole foods has a good business model. The food is extremely fresh and natural. It also offers great pay and benefits for its employees. That contributes to the reason it is so pricey. I think people are willing to pay extra for organic and natural in certain areas and I see this store is ALWAYS crowded. They also were smart in offer a 'lunch' section. I know I work in the city and this is one of the hottest places to get lunch.
Well, I like to wander around in Whole Foods from time to time, but I don't buy much there. They are way out of my price range. I am fond of their animal crackers in a tub though, and also their Vegan cookies. I see recipies all the time asking for various sorts of flours that I am sure could be purchased there, but finding an alternative source to save dollars would be the thing to do I think.
It sounds like there types of stores patronised and targeted at higher net worth clientelle who by dint of their consumption habits and choices have come to the realization that fast food marketing fads and gimmicks are illusionary and only pump waistlines. Fresh and organic foods usually have a premium price tag attached but a good number are exorbitant and not worth the extra coin.
I had a nice stock of soap from Whole Foods that I'd bought quite a while ago. I recently went to get a bar, but realized I was out. I looked online, and was unable to find that particular soap, or anything comparable, really, which makes me wish I could shop Whole Foods online. I looked around to see if that was possible, but apparently there isn't a way to purchase their items online. I'd have to drive quite a ways to get to one, since there aren't any outside of the city here. I guess I'll have to find another place to buy that type of item, because I'm not driving an hour each way into Houston traffic just to buy soap. I know many here would shop at Whole Foods if they opened a store in the general area, but for some reason, they seem reluctant to do so.
I remember going to Whole Foods for the first time with my mom. She and I regularly shopped at Walmart so we were used to pretty low prices. I remember my mom freaking out when we did a big grocery shopping at Walmart and going a little over $100. But at Whole Foods we were freaking out! "Mom, look its $7 for this little thing of mayo!", and the rich old ladies in heels would be giving us dirty looks. It was crazy expensive and you can tell everyone in there is rich, they even have a wine bar!
I maintain that this is an incredibly overrated store. I think it's mainly for people with a lot of disposable income who are interesting in buying healthier than normal products. I wouldn't suggest it at all to the average person. Way overpriced, and a bit pretentious. They do have a good food bar though, though it too is very pricey for what you get.
OMG this place sounds like something I'd really enjoy! All that fresh food and meat LOL I've never heard of it, and I'm almost certain we don't have it in North West England. I think its definitely a place I'd love to shop in. But, I wouldn't like the fact that it's very pricey and has snooty customers. What annoys me about snooty customers is that they always swan about the place as if they own it, and believe they have the license to decide who's fit to shop in 'their store' LOL I'd probably only shop there once in a while, as a treat.
Another place people are paying for names more than their food. It's completely unnecessary. I'll go straight to the farmer rather than forking over more because the sign outside says "Whole Foods" and it's good business to take advantage of people's desire to be healthier and probably not really understanding how if they think Whole Foods is the answer. I do like to see places like this doing well though.. because it's a start. A gateway lol. People want to be healthy now and that's amazing.
The one and only thing that bothers me about whole foods is the pricing. I have been making about 50% of my meals now in blender form trying to eat healthier and it's the perfect place to find foods that are good for you, even though I really don't care for the taste, hence the blender. The prices though are ridiculous, the powders to put in the blender seem to be double as to what you would get at a sports shop in the mall and the kale is much more expensive there too, it's organic so maybe that has something to do with it. I'm not going to go to 10 different places though to go shopping so I stick by it because I know it will be good for me in the long run. I like the customer service there too, very friendly and knowledgeable when it comes to supplements.
Whole foods is expensive, but sometimes you almost have to go there or some other specialty store to get a rare item. Another poster mentioned they like the fact that Whole Foods makes an effort to buy local produce. While they prominently display a sign saying so, you would be surprised at other supermarkets that do that, too, but just don't hang a sign. I know for a certainty that our Super Wal-mart has a lot of locally grown produce. While I was love to only eat hormone-free, grass fed meat, I can't afford it at all, but I do buy it every once in a while. However, I don't do it at Whole Foods. I actually found a farm in my area that specializes in it and they tend to be a little cheaper. We even got to hand pick a live turkey they even had butchered for us one Thanksgiving! Also, their free-range chicken eggs taste out of this world and are much cheaper than the grocery store free-range equivalents.
Alas, I can't afford to shop at Whole Foods, but when I was a child I remember that my parents would often shop there and the fruit was delicious! It was better quality than at other places and there was so much variety. They have healthy products that you can't find in other stores. Plus the atmosphere is great and makes for a nice shopping experience. I'd like to be able to shop at Whole Foods more often.
