It's an expensive store to have as the first to be back in Detroit but it's a good thing. It can prove that bringing business back there can work.
Heck yes it is. I go shopping for two weeks worth of groceries at Meijer for less than a hundred bucks. I go to Whole Foods for a loaf of bread, get to the register with that and a few other items to fill one brown paper bag and it's like $80 every time. I don't even have the makings of a full meal in there half the time. I am always puzzled when I walk out of there it seems. I will say this though, everything from there is pretty amazing. The difference is palpable from produce to breads to selection on just about every food category.
It's true. WF will cost you about 40% more than what you will spend at Krogers, but with Wayne State University and the medical centers, there are actually a large number of people with that buying power in the area it is located. It will be interesting to see how they do. In every discussion about living into Detroit, four concerns are always mentioned: the schools, crime, a lack of grocery stores, and car insurance rates. This knocks one off the list.