Whole Foods - new one in my area

[MIch elle]

I shopped there today. Beautiful store with nice food but WOW expensive. I bought organic wine, 365 bread and crackers, liver pate and Ceylon cinnamon.

 

What are your favorite whole foods items?

[tim.engen]

I shopped there today. Beautiful store with nice food but WOW expensive. I bought organic wine, 365 bread and crackers, liver pate and Ceylon cinnamon.

 

What are your favorite whole foods items?

I've only been there once. I walked right out. It's too expensive

 

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[Kareni]

I know all the jokes about Whole Foods being called Whole Paycheck; however, I do buy several items there.

 

My husband and I have high blood pressure and consequently eat a low sodium diet.

 

The Whole Foods 365 brand sells very reasonably priced canned and boxed beans with no sodium added.

 

We also buy the 365 low sodium bacon.

 

And their 365 brand no salt added albacore tuna.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Jean in Newcastle]

We can buy celiac friendly things there.  My absolute favorite were Siete grain free tortilla chips.  There are also a couple of kinds of crackers that we can't find anywhere else.  And we go there for birthdays or other dates for a safe dessert.  The price tags are worth it for me. 

 

[Tsuga]

If you want a gourmet dessert or a boxed hot lunch from a deli, they are less expensive than eating out at a health food restaurant, at least sometimes.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Tsuga

[regentrude]

Cheese. Because what passes for cheese in our regular grocery stores is pathetic (with the exception of the Aldi special seasonal imports).

[MEmama]

So many items there are cheaper--AND better quality--than our local shop (which is pretty good in its own right). Tortillas, beans, coffee, pasta...and the produce is almost always fantastic. It's the only place out of season where I buy apples and sweet potatoes, especially.

 

I've never found it more expensive than other shops (TJs is in its own class), though. One CAN spend a lot on fancy items to be sure, but you don't have to.

[IfIOnly]

I don't buy staples or things I can buy cheaper at TJ's there. I do get hard to find items like anise star, garam masala and other hard to find spices at WF. I get Tamari there, which is wheat free soy sauce. It's nice to get special treats there too like coconut ice cream and good dark chocolate. If I forget to order supps online, it's my emergency store. It's nice as a cheap date night or coffee date spot too.

Edited February 21, 2018 by IfIOnly

[regentrude]

Either is mostly moot for us, since the nearest WF and TJ are 100 miles away. So we seldom get the chance to splurge.

 

This is true! But try Tillamook cheese from Trader Joe's. (Not sure if WF has it). Tillamook is really good. WF does have good cheese, too! Once you eat that kind, you can't eat other cheese anymore.

 

and the annoying thing is that, back home in Germany, many of the same brands of cheese can be found even in discount grocery chains, for a fraction of the price. 

[Lawyer&Mom]

This is true! But try Tillamook cheese from Trader Joe's. (Not sure if WF has it). Tillamook is really good. WF does have good cheese, too! Once you eat that kind, you can't eat other cheese anymore.

Our WF has Tillamook.

[SparklyUnicorn]

dill pickle almonds

 

too expensive overall though...

 

 

[Sandwalker]

I know all the jokes about Whole Foods being called Whole Paycheck; however, I do buy several items there.

 

My husband and I have high blood pressure and consequently eat a low sodium diet.

 

The Whole Foods 365 brand sells very reasonably priced canned and boxed beans with no sodium added.

 

We also buy the 365 low sodium bacon.

 

And their 365 brand no salt added albacore tuna.

 

Regards,

Kareni

And if you buy by the case, you get a discount. We buy cases of no salt canned beans there.

 

Their organic produce has gone down in price since Amazon bought Whole Foods.

[eternalsummer]

We buy their frozen wild organic blueberries, frozen breaded cod (which I think is gluten free, but not a concern for us either way), Golden Age Boule bread, and yogurt- right now I like the CoYo and the Kite Greek-style almond milk one.  Also they will in some locations make fresh sushi for you to order, which is convenient.  Also if there are any left I get the kids vegan donuts. 

 

I really prefer Natural Grocers in a lot of ways, but it is very location dependent.

 

One thing both stores do relatively well is bring in local products - the Whole Foods in Overland Park, KS used to carry a local breadmaker's ciabatta rolls that were divine.  

[Tsuga]

Cheese. Because what passes for cheese in our regular grocery stores is pathetic (with the exception of the Aldi special seasonal imports).

 

Our Kroger's has really good cheeses. Not the same selection as Whole Foods, but they have a reasonable selection particularly of local cheeses.

 

Re: Tillamook, it is always really strange for me to hear about Tillamook among gourmet cheeses. Wal-Mart here has Tillamook! They are pretty good though. :)

[JennyD]

Produce, meat, lactose-free cream cheese and sour cream, ricotta salata, olives.  

[Ravin]

We used to call it Whole Paycheck. I will sometimes go there to find an herbal item or essential oil or such if I can't find it in the Sprouts across the street.

[Kareni]

I do get hard to find items like anise star, garam masala and other hard to find spices at WF. ...

 

Ah, we also get some spices at Whole Foods.  My husband likes the garam masala that comes in a small box; I don't know the brand name.

 

And if you buy by the case, you get a discount. We buy cases of no salt canned beans there.

 

I hadn't known about the case discount, Sandwalker; thanks for mentioning it!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[ktgrok]

Cheese mostly

[Stacia]

We like their hummus.

 

I find better salmon there at the fish counter than at other local stores.

 

My dd loves their soups on their hot foods bar.

 

I like the WF 365 unsalted canned beans.

 

We get jars of Shizzle sauce (Jamaican jerk sauce) there; maybe I could find them elsewhere locally, but I've never looked...

 

Dd & her friend brought home mochi (Japanese-American ice cream balls wrapped in sweet rice dough). So delicious!  :drool5:  We all had a great time sampling the various flavors. We tried: Strawberry, Vanilla, Red Bean, Chocolate, Mango, & Coffee. They were all great, but we might skip mango next time & add in more of other flavors instead. (FYI, there were four of us. Dd & her friend bought six mochi & then we cut each one into fourths to try. So we each had the equivalent of 1.5 mochi, which was plenty for a dessert serving imo. In case you are wondering how many you might want to buy/eat....)

Edited February 21, 2018 by Stacia

[catz]

Their name brand stuff tends to be reasonable if you are buying lower processed items anyway. Often better priced than the “cheap†store for natural/organic.

 

I like their cheese, and produce, and deli items are convenient sometimes. Unfortunately, I can’t eat a lot of highly processed food so I’d be spending a bunch wherever.

 

ETA my kids LOVE their peanut butter pretzels 🥨

Edited February 21, 2018 by FuzzyCatz

[MIch elle]

I don't buy staples or things I can buy cheaper at TJ's there. I do get hard to find items like anise star, garam masala and other hard to find spices at WF. I get Tamari there, which is wheat free soy sauce. It's nice to get special treats there too like coconut ice cream and good dark chocolate. If I forget to order supps online, it's my emergency store. It's nice as a cheap date night or coffee date spot too.

I now use coconut aminos instead of tamari. The coconut aminos was $3 more at WF than where I usually shop, Market Basket.

Edited February 21, 2018 by MIch elle

[shawthorne44]

There was stuff actually on the shelves?    Must be because it is a new store.  

 

At first I thought it was because of Amazon, because the shelves being bare started about then.  But recently I read that pre-Amazon they changed how stuff was ordered.  Headquarters does the ordering, and employees are punished for having stock for their department in the stock room.   Not for having stuff in the stock room when it should be on the shelves, but for having stuff there at all.  So, I'm boycotting them.  

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

In terms of prices, I think this depends on where you live.  Yes, they are expensive everywhere pretty much, BUT in my area in particular I find them completely uninteresting because for a very long time there was absolutely no store like them SO all of the regular grocery stores carry similar products and many carry store brands of those types of products for far less.  So they come along and charge two times as much or more...what exactly is the allure?  I think a big draw for them around here is probably the store made foods.  They have tons and tons of that sort of thing.

 

Even cheese.  All of my regular stores have a huge cheese selection.  It's expensive, but WF is far more.  Trader Joes beats everyone on cheese prices and selection though.

 

I do like to go there if I need a dried herb/spice that I can't find elsewhere.  They have a good selection of harder to find herbs/spices.

 

 

[BlsdMama]

This is true! But try Tillamook cheese from Trader Joe's. (Not sure if WF has it). Tillamook is really good. WF does have good cheese, too! Once you eat that kind, you can't eat other cheese anymore.

 

 

This is true.

 

Move: Oregon to Iowa.

 

Do you know my Costco does NOT carry Tillamook Colby Jack?

 

We've been back four and a half years and I am STILL not over this.  

[Tsuga]

This is true.

 

Move: Oregon to Iowa.

 

Do you know my Costco does NOT carry Tillamook Colby Jack?

 

We've been back four and a half years and I am STILL not over this.

That's not okay. How can Costco not have a basic cheese?

 

If what you all are saying about.the unavailability of cheese is true it makes the popularity of Whole Foods more understandable.

[GailV]

The other day dd and I were in Whole Foods and decided we wanted mac and cheese.  We looked there, and decided to go to the nearby Target instead.  Surprise -- the exact same item was more expensive at Target.

 

Similar issue with dried garbanzo beans -- I decided to wait and get them at Schnucks (local grocery chain) instead.  Silly me -- Schnucks only had the organic super-expensive brand.

 

As for the original question, we get the little date bars rolled in coconut in the bulk bins, the almonds coated with dark chocolate/sea salt/turbinado sugar in the bulk bin (sorry, TJ's similar items do NOT taste as good to me), 365 Brand dried organic Turkish apricots, half and half, 365 canned ginger ale, 365 clamshells of mixed greens, avocados (usually -- sometimes other stores have better prices, but WF usually has better looking avos -- we go through 2 or 3 per day, so finding decent avos is an issue), 365 organic ketchup, Wellness canned cat food if it's on sale (at which time I purchase by the case -- I usually buy this from a small local business, but will buy on sale from a chain if I'm there anyway), cheese, Cedar's hummus (haven't found in other local stores), the fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice.  Sometimes DH picks up an organic rotisserie chicken along with some salad bar items; the bones of the chicken eventually become chicken broth.

[Jean in Newcastle]

As far as cheese goes, I look for the cheeses unavailable anywhere else (except for the local food co-op).  For me, since we try to limit cow milk products due to allergies etc. I go for the fancy goat cheeses.  I can get the softer goat cheeses at our local grocery store but not the goat cheese cheddar and other specialties. 

[MIch elle]

Never heard of Tillamook cheese so I looked it up and it’s sold at my Market Basket supermarket. I’ll give it a try. I buy Grafton village raw cheddar cheese along with Cabot.

Edited February 21, 2018 by MIch elle

[Kanin]

When I lived near a Whole Foods, I used coupons all the time. Often I could use a store coupon from their coupon book, AND a manufacturer coupon that I printed out at home, at the same time! It was amazing. There are websites that list the WF deals of the week, and tell you where to find all the coupons to match up.  :hurray:

[Sandwalker]

When I lived near a Whole Foods, I used coupons all the time. Often I could use a store coupon from their coupon book, AND a manufacturer coupon that I printed out at home, at the same time! It was amazing. There are websites that list the WF deals of the week, and tell you where to find all the coupons to match up. :hurray:

And sometimes there's a $15 off a $75 WF purchase coupon online!

[Crimson Wife]

I now use coconut aminos instead of tamari. The coconut aminos was $3 more at WF than where I usually shop, Market Basket.

Market Basket is unusually cheap for a full selection grocery . We don’t have an equivalent store here unfortunately.

 

There is just Safeway (part of the same company as Shaw’s and similarly pricey), WF, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Sam’s Club, Lunardi’s (upscale gourmet) Nob Hill (upscale gourmet), Target, Walmart, and then Cost Plus Bargain Market that is cheap but highly unpredictable in its selection.

 

 

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[MIch elle]

Market Basket is unusually cheap for a full selection grocery . We don’t have an equivalent store here unfortunately.

 

There is just Safeway (part of the same company as Shaw’s and similarly pricey), WF, Trader Joe’s, Costco, Sam’s Club, Lunardi’s (upscale gourmet) Nob Hill (upscale gourmet), Target, Walmart, and then Cost Plus Bargain Market that is cheap but highly unpredictable in its selection.

 

 

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Yes, I so appreciate my Market Basket! But coconut aminos is .14 cheaper at Amazon (9,85) than MB.

[alisoncooks]

Usually I just buy skincare items that I can't find elsewear, but now that I know this:

Dd & her friend brought home mochi (Japanese-American ice cream balls wrapped in sweet rice dough). So delicious! :drool5: We all had a great time sampling the various flavors. We tried: Strawberry, Vanilla, Red Bean, Chocolate, Mango, & Coffee. They were all great, but we might skip mango next time & add in more of other flavors instead. (FYI, there were four of us. Dd & her friend bought six mochi & then we cut each one into fourths to try. So we each had the equivalent of 1.5 mochi, which was plenty for a dessert serving imo. In case you are wondering how many you might want to buy/eat....)

I will be taking myself to WF posthaste. My oldest loves mochi; the only place around here that we've seen it is a Malaysian restaurant we enjoy (but can't afford to go to often). Edited February 21, 2018 by alisoncooks