Whole Foods is putting the finishing touches on a 7,400-square-meter(~ 80,000-square-foot) store opening June 6 on Kensington High Street in central London.

Ok - so its not just a small slightly quirky organic/gourmet chain anymore.

But Kensington High Street? Didn't we have enough traffic and congestion (London is the most densly populated city in Europe) problems before?

R

I'm surprised it took them this long to go International. They are probably the biggest organic chain store in the world.

I'm a Trader Joes fan myself

Whole Foods on Kensington High Street??? Isn't that a little toney for something so pedestrian? And 80,000 sq. ft. Wow. Where is it on Kensington High Street?

Apparently, on the corner where Barkers Dept Store used to be - #63 Kensington High Street.

With 80,000 square feet it will be larger than both Sainsbury's and Tesco's in Kensington - but will have no parking for its customers. (GREAT planning guys!)

Hamleys, probably the world's most famous toyshop, is moving out of its cramped Regent Street building to HoF's bigger Dickins & Jones store along the road.

R

This is all I ever want when I am in a Whole Foods.

Wonder White Bread
Cheetos
Instant Iced Tea
and Snickers Bar

Instead I get

$17.50 per pound Granola
A $6.99 half gallon of milk
2 steaks that cost me more than my favorite Prada sunglasses
and my Subaru Valet parked

Give me my ACME or give me death. (its a Philly thing... You wouldn't understand, Unless, HEAVEN forbid, you shop at Pathmark)

Whole Foods already has stores in Canada (so its already 'international'). There's one in Hazelton Lanes in Toronto (I was there on Saturday), one in Oakville (Toronto suburb), and one in West Vancouver.

that's why they call it Whole Paycheck Foods

I'll settle for Safeway; their organic products are good, except for the mac and white chedder

odd tasting stuff

Ohhhhh Heyyyyy....gotta love ACME!!! On the days I don't feel like traveling all the way to Wegmans I go to Acme. Yes...a Philly thing. There are, however, some things I do like to get from Whole Foods. As the boyfriend and I approach 30, we're adding more natural and organic foods to the house. Of course whenever I shop at Whole Foods I leave with one bag and $30 less from my account. But, its always been expensive to eat healthy.

Out in Lehigh Valley my parents discovered Wegman's. I LOVE them because they have such a great ethnic section. Thier organic section is really nice as well, but you can now find that great Goat yogurt they carry in ACME's. Both the Greek imported one and the one from California.

Unfortunately, I try very hard to eat healthy, because my sister has EXTREME allergies to most foods. She is allergic to all soy products which is a nightmare for all of us. Soy is used as a flour, vitamin E, soaps, candles, fed to chickens, cows and pigs as feed (and YES the protein to which people have an allergy actually is retained by the critters in their meat / muscles). So a lot of what people find healthy we don't use.

LOL My mom and I did a test comparing different grocery stores back when the Fresh Fields in Center City opened up about 10 years ago. Now, we have always done the farmer's market thing etc etc, but we really only started the whole organic thing in about 1993-94.

At that time, the parent company for Fresh Fields was Super Fresh. The same milk, greens, and certain other products were available in select SF stores, including the one in Huntington Valley that my Mom liked to use. There was a minimum of $1.00 per product difference for everything.

The same 1/2 gallon of skim milk that I purchased last week at an ACME was 3.29, at Whole Foods on South Street in Philly it was 3.89. Now I realise that is a negligible difference, but to me its a significant sign of price manipulation.

I know that its almost a required staus symbol to shop there, but quite frankly if I can buy the same thing somewhere else cheaper, I will. The only problem for me is whether I feel like moving my car to buy groceries. Half the time I simply walk to the market at Reading Terminal. The vegetables are fresher, the bread comes from Le Bus, I use the same Mennonite butcher for meat my parents use, I buy free range chicken and turkey, and the seafood selection is amazing. Everything is fresh, and they will reduce prices on stuff to keep it that way.

I hate the idea that to eat healthy / well, you have to be rich that pervades our society. I eat incredibly well, and just shop smart. I wish there were more farmers markets etc in urban centers to give places like Whole Foods a run for their money. LOL maybe its just because I can remember the Hucksters that used to drive through the neighborhoods with pick up trucks full of food from small farms in NJ as a kid.

Wegman's ethnic section is really good. Its such a clean place to go to as well. Their pastry section is excellent. I just love everything about it. Their eatery is nice with the couches and stuff. Its very inviting. The decor and lighting is very welcoming.

But, it is expensive to eat healthy and that is a big reason why your lower income populations, particularly African Americans have such an obesity problem. In lower income areas, my god...there's chinese restaurants and corner stores on almost every block. There's fast food restaurants all over the place and the cheap food is often unhealthy. But, thats what they can afford. They can't afford to spend $50 and only come away with 3 bags full of produce and fruits. Its ashame. When I was in college I went grocery shopping and came in and my roommate asked me how much I spent on groceries and I told him like $90 and I only had like 5 bags and he said that was crazy. But, it was mostly health food.

The biggest distributor of organic foods is Walmart.... go figure.

I agree with you on that. BUT when i was in college, fresh or frozen fish was always in my kitchen, whole grain breads, pickled veggies, cheeses, frozen or fresh veggies. My friends were amazed at what I would produce on a moments notice if people were hungry. I used to buy whole frozen wild salmon for around 2 bucks a piece. I have always been a proponent of all this stuff, as well as afforable housing. I would LOVE to figure out a way to help revitalise ailing neighborhoods.

There is a huckster on 10th Street at Vine street that sells fresh veggies at $1.00 a bag. Yesterday she had okra, kiwi's, champagne mango's, green beans, asparagus, pineapples, a lot of Asian veggies I have no idea how to cook, spinach, greens etc. everything was $1-$3.00.

I think (I think ... screw that I KNOW), that there is still an overwhelming and pervasive racism in larger cities, which prevents people from ever taking the risk of doing something like opening a farmers market where it could do some good.

I know we are digressing COMPLETELY from the initial thread, BUT, ever since I was in HS I wanted to acquire whole swaths of North Philly, and return it to farm community. Augment the land, and start to plant. Teach the local kids about food, show them how to construct things, houses, barns, what have you. Create some sort of idyllic community of growers, artists and teachers, its a wonderful dream, but one that I will never see. I lack the resources to fund something like this, and I will lose to developers and Universities every time. It is a great fantasy however.

Where are you from Terp, that you know ACME? You a Philly guy originally?

Whole Foods is moving into Chicago's new gay & lesbian community center, Center on Halsted.

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