  East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1591 Registered: 11-2003 |
Anyone know which of the three Whole Foods stores in Detroit (oh gosh, I mean Metro Detroit, sorry) is the best or biggest? We just visited the Whole Foods HQ in Austin and it was incredible. Wondering if any of the Detroit locations stack up, because Good Food Co does not. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2871 Registered: 04-2006 |
The Ann Arbor store is pretty large. It's the largest Whole Foods I have ever shopped at. | ||
Spidergirl Member Username: Spidergirl Post Number: 340 Registered: 12-2004 |
Of the three close ones (Bloomfield, Troy, Rochester) I think Rochester has the better selection. | ||
Gertrude Member Username: Gertrude Post Number: 43 Registered: 05-2005 |
The one in West Bloomfield is currently undergoing renovations. The employees there seem pretty excited by the finished plans which include expanded produce and meat sections. I live near this one so I haven't shopped the others, but I've always been satisfied with the selection and the attention the staff has given us. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2074 Registered: 07-2004 |
Don't they call it "Whole Paychecks"?  | ||
Newport1128 Member Username: Newport1128 Post Number: 182 Registered: 05-2007 |
I've been to the one in Austin, too, and the one in Troy is much smaller with a more limited selection. Better than nothing, I guess. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1830 Registered: 09-2007 |
I bet it cost at least $25 for a small pack of meat at Whole Paychecks. Completely outrageous! (Message edited by detroitrise on March 24, 2008) | ||
Gertrude Member Username: Gertrude Post Number: 44 Registered: 05-2005 |
Detroitnerd, if I didn't have to prepare food for a severely allergic child, I wouldn't shop there because it all adds up way too quickly. Although we spell it, "Whole Paychex" cuz we like to be classy like that. | ||
Texorama Member Username: Texorama Post Number: 195 Registered: 12-2006 |
The one in Austin is awe-inspiring. You can survive on the free samples alone (and many in that city of pawnshops do just that). They're building a second store in Ann Arbor, and I wonder if they'll go all out with that one. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1831 Registered: 09-2007 |
It's sad a city not even half the size of Detroit can get 2 Whole Foods and Detroit can't even get a Wal-Mart (let along a Whole Foods)  (Message edited by detroitrise on March 24, 2008) | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1604 Registered: 11-2003 |
I went to the Troy location today... not too bad, but maybe 3 apple varieties vs 10 in Austin. Not sure if its much better than what my local Kroger now carries. I'll check out the Rochester one next time, thanks Spidergirl. | ||
Adamjab19 Member Username: Adamjab19 Post Number: 836 Registered: 11-2003 |
I tried to shop at the one in Troy a few times and found the produce to be inconsistent. But still a neat store. Definitely more specialty than a regular grocery store for me. | ||
Gertrude Member Username: Gertrude Post Number: 46 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'd give anything for consistent produce, Adamjab19. Hiller's market has the closest to consistent out by me but I've been annoyed with the lack of selection recently. You guys really make me want to try the Rochester one. How does it compare to the Troy Nino Salvaggio? | ||
English Member Username: English Post Number: 676 Registered: 10-2003 |
I live 5 mins. from Whole Paycheck in Ann Arbor. The D should try getting Trader Joe's first. I shop there FAR more than Whole Paycheck (TJ's every 1-2 weeks; WF maybe every 6-8 weeks). For fresh produce -- Eastern Market is FAR more chic than anything up here. Ann Arbor natives in the know who are Michael Pollan disciples get wistful whenever I talk about my Saturday mornings at Eastern Market with my grandparents. | ||
Texorama Member Username: Texorama Post Number: 196 Registered: 12-2006 |
I happen to live across the street from the Whole Foods in Ann Arbor, so I shop there a lot. I'm not particularly attached to it--it's expensive (although so are all the stores out here) and sort of hit-or-miss. I'll give them one thing--I never have to wait more than a minute or so for a cashier. The Kwamster at one point said that he had tried to get one to locate in Detroit but was told that they look for a certain number of college graduates within a certain radius, and there was no place in Detroit that qualified. | ||
Jaydetroit Member Username: Jaydetroit Post Number: 13 Registered: 02-2008 |
I thought it was a trader joes they tried getting down at lafayette park a few years back...and part of their corporate strategy was that any new store had to have 50% college graduate rate of residents within a mile...which sadly lafayette did not have. Though we have to admit, if Krogers or Farmer Jack can't survive a Detroit economic climate, how could a pricier(albeit healthier) food chain survive here? though if one opened I would certainly support it. | ||
Slider Member Username: Slider Post Number: 34 Registered: 06-2007 |
"It's sad a city not even half the size of Detroit can get 2 Whole Foods and Detroit can't even get a Wal-Mart (let along a Whole Foods" Consider it a blessing there is not a Wal Mart in Detroit. I won't expand any further out of fear of thread jacking. It's just the usual Wal Mart is bad rhetoric. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1834 Registered: 09-2007 |
"Consider it a blessing there is not a Wal Mart in Detroit. I won't expand any further out of fear of thread jacking. It's just the usual Wal Mart is bad rhetoric." I know, I was just pointing out the irony. If 1 Million citizens can't support the cheapest box store in the country, then you know it's bad. | ||
Matt_the_deuce Member Username: Matt_the_deuce Post Number: 806 Registered: 10-2003 |
According to an article in Crains this week, the specialty stores are doing alright and the deep discounters are doing alright. It's the Farmer jacks and Krogers in between that are struggling. The key is finding the right location for the specialty grocers. http://www.crainsdetroit.com/a pps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2008 0323/EMAIL/938344725/1069 | ||
Umbound Member Username: Umbound Post Number: 63 Registered: 02-2008 |
There is the kroger near my house on Orchard Lake rd. but my mom, shops at the whole foods in West Bloomfield for all of my family all the time. I havent been to the one in Rochester where is it exactly? | ||
Nainrouge Member Username: Nainrouge Post Number: 1114 Registered: 05-2006 |
quote: Aldi's want to open a store in Brightmoor and people protest it. No wonder no businesses want to go through that heartache. | ||
Umbound Member Username: Umbound Post Number: 64 Registered: 02-2008 |
Once i move to Ann Arbor for school in a little bit i can see myself going to a whole foods there all the time. Somebody tell me where is the one in Rochester at? | ||
Gertrude Member Username: Gertrude Post Number: 47 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Rochester WFM is on Walton west of Livernois | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 4205 Registered: 02-2004 |
Go to a farmers market if you want good organic produce. Buying straight from the farmers is the best way and most sustainable. Local farmer markets http://www.metromodemedia.com/ features/FarmersMarket0017.asp x For grass fed beef, pork, lamb and organic chicken http://www.eatwild.com/product s/michigan.html | ||
Adamjab19 Member Username: Adamjab19 Post Number: 837 Registered: 11-2003 |
I definitely recommend grass fed meats. Much better tasting I think. Plus the whole slaughter house bothers me. Trucking in animals, mass product gross stuff flying around...I'd rather shake the hand of the person who killed the animal. Oldredfordette- that grass feed list of farmers is great. I think the sand lilly farm sells in Eastern Market. He was in the last shed for a couple of months. He just had a fridge in the back of his truck with frozen meat selections. He was done for the year and would be back in the summer. It sounds like they just raise a handful of cows and slaughter and sell until they run out. It was $4 a pound for about ground chuck type beef. If you wanted anything with less fat you had to buy the cut and grind yourself. Gertrude-There is a Hillers in Berkely. Not sure of that is the one you shop at or live near but if you do Westborn has by far some of the best produce on the most consistent basis. | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 4209 Registered: 02-2004 |
A guy at the RO Farmers Market sells excellent pork, rabbit, and bison: Suchman Swine Sausage LLC. | ||
Udmphikapbob Member Username: Udmphikapbob Post Number: 540 Registered: 07-2004 |
I was thoroughly disappointed with the (lack of) selection of local foods at Whole Foods of Rochester. Personally, I find the "localvore" lifestyle more appealing than buying organic foods that are still trucked in from California. Too bad it's really hard to find the locally-produced stuff in stores! And yes, I know I can't get Michigan vegetables in March. There are limitations! | ||
Jim Member Username: Jim Post Number: 981 Registered: 10-2003 |
The Rochester location is to move to University and Adams, into a former Farmer Jack location, which would make it by far the largest Whole Foods in the area. If anyone is really interested in a lifestyle that is 'local' or 100% organic, grow the food you want to eat. Just because it comes from a Farmer's Market, brought by a local farmer does not mean the products are produced the healthiest why possible. | ||
Valkyrias Member Username: Valkyrias Post Number: 512 Registered: 02-2005 |
you all should check out this site: http://michigan.doortodoororga nics.com/ i've been using their service for a month now, and am pretty happy with it. granted, (as udmphikapbob pointed out) we can't really get michigan grown stuff right now, but they do focus on local growers when it is the right seasons. and there are some things that you just cannot get in the states, like bananas...but anything from out of the country is at least fair trade in addition to being organic. and there are so many purchasing options on there, that i think it would be almost impossible to really disappoint anyone. |
