DarkSideDenizen said:
It's really unfortunate that this space will be occupied by Whole Foods. Irregardless, it is doubtful that they'll survive long term at this location.
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I am looking forward to it. As a resident of this area, I think there is increasing vibrancy and the place is really starting to pick up. I think Whole Foods will do fine, especially with office workers who will go there for lunch, and with the growing influx of residents as new condos are being built and occupied. As it is right on the Sheppard-Yonge subway stop, folks from below the 401 and from east along the Sheppard line might venture in as well, as it will be convenient.

WF has a lot of unique products, and there is a growing market for alternative and local food sourcing.
 
salsa said:
I guess Mr. DarkSideDenizen only sees the dark side of it (whatever that is).
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It's my opinion, that's all, not dark or light, just my opinion. I owe my loyalties to no one, certainly not an overdone retail food chain. Something more appealing to the broader community would have better suited the site.

I've seen many retailers come and go in this area throughout the years and Whole Foods will be no different, especially once the "hip" and "new" feeling wears out. People will grow to realize they are paying more than they should for the same products.
 
DarkSideDenizen said:
It's my opinion, that's all, not dark or light, just my opinion. I owe my loyalties to no one, certainly not an overdone retail food chain. Something more appealing to the broader community would have better suited the site.

I've seen many retailers come and go in this area throughout the years and Whole Foods will be no different, especially once the "hip" and "new" feeling wears out. People will grow to realize they are paying more than they should for the same products.
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Whole Foods will be fine at that location. The closest Whole Foods in the area is on Avenue near Bloor. For their types of products, you have to travel at least to Eglinton and possibly further downtown. With traffic and constant subway closures on the weekends that is a becoming a big hassle.

With the growth in the yonge/sheppard intersection, not to mention Sheppard and North York in general, There will be more than enough potential customers to support both Whole Foods and Metro at this intersection. There is not only a large number of people within walking distance but also tons of passing traffic going north at night, 2 subway lines (Sheppard getting more and more traffic each year and more if/when the street level extension east happens ), plus the 401.
Eventually there will be more development on the west side of the street that will also bring in more dwellers and possibly more office workers.

This is on it's way to be a Yonge/Bloor type intersection and will be able to support many businesses. It is essentially becoming the downtown of the north. While traffic and transit will keep getting worse, it will go a long way to making Toronto more NYC like where there are multiple population centers and not just a downtown area with smaller neighborhoods surrounding it.
 
I think Whole Foods is a misguided attempt at appealing to people who are ignorant of food, nutrition, and welfare. BUT, it's a business, and if it can survive at this location, so be it.
 
Waterloo_Guy said:
I think Whole Foods is a misguided attempt at appealing to people who are ignorant of food, nutrition, and welfare. BUT, it's a business, and if it can survive at this location, so be it.
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So someone who prefers to buy animal products that have been raised like this:

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Rather than like this:

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Is ignorant? Ok, if you say so.
 
great pic ^ it's interesting seeing how the light plays (or doesn't play) well with the bend of Emerald Park. 2 great projects located right across the street from each other. IMO, this new cluster finally gives the NYCC skyline a unique identity combining 'no-slouch' height with great design and build form. (quality too specifically with Hullmark). It's a skyline that can really stand on it's own, imagine if it didn't amalgamate with Toronto! :p
 
Whole Foods Market at Hullmark Centre finally opened and was busy throughout the day. Lots of samples and opening specials. This isn't Costco - people weren't loading up king size shopping carts and stuffing their SUV full of groceries. Most folks were coming out of Whole Foods Market with half a (WFM) paper bag full of groceries. Higher than usual amount of foot traffic at Yonge & Sheppard and seeing a constant stream of folks carrying Whole Foods Market bags.

Most folks seem to be happy to be getting a full size supermarket back into the neighborhood. But the high prices (even with sales) limit the purchase. It'll be interesting to see if these customers will return on a regular basis,... how busy will Whole Foods Market be in a couple of weeks,...

BTW, Hullmark Centre's north tower doing the covering on the spine so it topped out
 
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urban grocers tend to sell in smaller amounts, people can only carry 2-4 bags comfortably. They simply go to the grocer more often, 2 or 3 times a week instead of once a week or so.
 
Most coming out with just half a bag (WFM paper bag). Rare to see someone with even 2 bags. Shows most are there for the novelty and just picking up the sale item or that one item their missing to make their meal. They're not looking at WFM as their primary supermarket, yet. This was happening throughout the entire day, so it's not just the office workers picking up a few items on the way home.

Asians and other cultures whose food consumption relies more on fresh ingredients tend to buy smaller amounts and visit grocer every 2 or 3 days. Folks from cultures that tends to stock up on groceries once per week were also mainly coming out with just half a bag of stuff.

WFM is getting folks into their store now to check it out and for the sales items and samples - challenge is to up sell their regular higher margin items. Their ready made items were more popular than at other WFM stores mainly due to all the singles & couples in the condos. The challenge for WFM is to change people's shopping pattern and make WFM their primary grocer. WFM only has about 6 months before Metro opens across the street at EmeraldPark,... and then there'll likely be a Longo's at Sheppard Centre in about 2-3 years.
 
The new Whole Foods looks great. We were also there yesterday for the opening...

Not sure which cultures typically stock up for a week, but we have always shopped for fresh groceries every couple of days. Seems the norm for most people around here, but I could be wrong. The days of backing up the station wagon and loading up 10-15 bags seem a thing of the past.

I think WF targets a different market than the typical Loblaws or Metro. This market tends to be younger, more affluent, and more educated in regards to food and environmental health issues. They are willing to pay more for certain products than people who tend to be more concerned with price and do not recognize or care about the differences between, say, grass-fed beef vs. industrialized feedlot beef. Whipped cream products at Loblaws or Metro will almost always contain carageenan, a known carcinogen and commonly used food-additive, while WF will carry a version that contains only milk fat. These types of offerings are appealing to people who are really interested in what they are consuming.

Whether or not there is enough of that market to sustain it long-term will be interesting to watch. I'll be helping. :)
 
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The really odd part about the layout of the store is that as soon as you enter the front door you literally walk into people leaving the cash registers. The lines of cash registers is the first thing you see as you enter and gives a bad impression of exactly what Whole Foods Market is really about! You have to do a sharp right turn and navigate through columns and lonely elevators (very rare to see anyone using these elevators to parking lot - let alone hauling cart full of groceries) to get to the first section which is the fruit and vegetable section which is basically hidden. At most supermarkets, the fruit and vegetable section is clearly visible as soon as you walk in through the front doors.

I think there's enough of a market to sustain it long terms. Not from the local condo crowd who are mainly young and heavily mortgaged but from the high volume of people literally travelling right under nose on the Subway. The surrounding housing stock - works in their favour since there's higher disposible income. They're competing with a segment of the market Loblaws have been trying to get into. They're probably taking business away from Bruno's and Pusateri's on Avenue Rd/Lawrence and BayviewVillage. But folks from midtown & BayviewVillage will have a closer Whole Foods Market once the new shop opens on Bayview between Eglinton and Lawrence next year.

I was at the opening as well. Unless, you want to be at the closing as well, you'll have to support this local business as well as others in our neighbourhood. The Indigo (Chapters) store at EmpressWalk went out of business as part of the merger with Chapters about 10 years ago and was replaced by a Staples store - that Staples store is now closing as well.
 
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