The ride up the escalator leads to the parking areas on the second and third floor. That's right a three story Whole Foods Market! Further ingenuity is the little escalator to the left for your shopping cart.
The ground floor is immense. For Memphians think Krogers on Mendenhall and then think a bit larger than that. The store has everything grocery and in large quantity. A small bar that serves beer and food is called the Red Star bar. A large beer and wine section is included.
The prepared food departments make available several circular bistro counters with ethnic themes for in store dining. Foods types include a deli, Asian, burgers, pizza, BBQ , sushi, salad bar, olive bar and wine bar. The upper floors are mostly for parking but the second floor has some dining areas. At my visit I noticed a large number of customers about equally made up of diners and shoppers.
I discovered this market while visiting another Whole Foods Market near my hotel which was in the Chicago suburbs. It also was huge. I commented to the cashier that I was from Memphis and this was considerably larger than our one Whole Foods Market. To which she replied that this was the second largest Whole Foods Market in the Midwest. The largest being the one described above which is in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago close to their downtown.
After my feeling of awe on my visit to the Lincoln Park Whole Foods came a feeling of being rather unloved by Whole Food Memphis. Granted our market cannot support the number and size of the Whole Foods in Chicago. Yet even with the enlargement in process of our one Whole Foods we will still fall short of the mark of even one of the Chicago stores.
And would not a smaller version of the Lincoln Park Whole Foods work marvelously in downtown Memphis! In which exists the need for a sizable grocery. What about midtowners? They must drive to East Memphis to shop at a Whole Foods. So what would be the answer to the question of Memphis supporting three Whole Food Markets of the smaller kind?
Whole Foods Market stock shows a steady, healthy organic growth over the past year. A September 23rd MarketWatch article picks Whole Foods as one of 10 of "America's fasted-growing retailers". In their analysis they say of Whole Foods
"For years, the company’s growth has been due in part
to its promotion of organic products, which have increased
in popularity. Now, the company hopes to grow further
offering lower cost items to consumers who are more
price-sensitive. To prevent this plan from cutting into its
profit margins, the company is also expanding more into
areas where it can buy or lease smaller spaces at a lower cost."
profit margins, the company is also expanding more into
areas where it can buy or lease smaller spaces at a lower cost."
Ok yes because that says Memphis all over it!
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