This is a good thing for Detroit. I remain enthusiastic about the cities future. b_b, you going to be shopping here?
This place is only a few blocks from my condo. I drove by this morning on my way to work. It was crazy, people everywhere, media too; the mayor and one of MI's senators were both there from what I gather. Quite a spectacle for our humble little town. I'll shop there when I need something, but I plan to stick with the smaller place down the road as a first option. Uh, is Austin not an inner city? They started as a small place right in the heart of Austin.But the arrival of an upscale Whole Foods store -- the company’s first-ever site in an inner-city neighborhood -- struck many as worthy of an above-average celebration.
True. I've been there and it's definitely not in the burbs. I've also been to a Whole Foods in downtown Chicago. I wonder how they are defining "inner city" or even "neighborhood?" I know that WithLoveFromDet has got to be excited about this addition to Detroit.
Let me start with this, I do not believe Whole Foods will solve any of Detroit's problems but hell, I want a one-stop-shop to buy organic whatever-the-heck-I-want. I agree that this is not the first "inner city" location but I think what is a "first" for this WF is how involved they have been in the community. They recognize that the city is not a "food desert". They are located half a mile from Eastern Market and have struck up a partnership with them. There are tons of small businesses in the city who have excellent food products and until now have not had a shared retailer from which to sell them. WF sells more "local" products than any other grocery store in the city proper. Sure I will stop in Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe for a better beer selection or some of their white chicken chili (amazing) and jump into Village or Lafayette Markets when I need a quick gallon of organic milk, but I am thrilled to have Whole Foods as a part of this city (Not so thrilled that I would have waited in line to enter but still thrilled.)
Is it a big Whole Foods? My guess is that they'd start of small and then expand as the cities need for their products increases. That is cool that WF is supporting locally produced products. I'm glad they're there. One more reason to get "J" to come stay with ya'll. -That's right, I say "ya'll" now.
Just what Detroit needs, the most expensive grocery store ever, a Whole Funds. And like others have pointed out, "inner city" must mean "lots of minorities", because they have these here in Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the inner-city proper, but granted they are more upscale "whiter" neighborhoods. There's really no "first" about this that I could tell.
It's in a super indie neighborhood; maybe that's what they meant. This Whole Foods is sharing a parking lot with a cute little coffee shop called Starbucks and a community savings and loan who are calling themselves Bank of America. Never heard of them, but they seem nice.
I think the point is that it is good that people in Detroit can afford to shop at a Whole Foods (which is a really sad measure). I do have to say that Whole Food is a major sign of gentrification, at least that was my experience in DC.