Whole Foods plans three new Austin stores (San Antonio, Georgetown: house, buying)

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by calel

I personally would love to see a real Central Market (instead of these HEB Pluses) plant itself somewhere up north, either in the 620/183 area or perhaps Round Rock.

The HEB Pluses are horrible, IMHO. Just a bunch of wasted space with bootleg flea market quality crap taking up floor space.

I wonder if it's a failing concept. I went in the Plus in Kyle last week while driving through and noticed that they seemed to be rearranging and moving out some of the "plus" merchandise.

[mimimomx3]

Yayyyyy!!!!
Whether you love or hate WF per se, their influence on regular grocery stores is huge. WF is encouraging all stores (even walmart!!) go healthy and are a boon to the organic food market and local food producers, which is good for all of us.
Yayyyy!!!

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by calel

Whole Foods was overdue for an expansion; Sprouts and Newflower have clearly been closing in on their territory.

I personally would love to see a real Central Market (instead of these HEB Pluses) plant itself somewhere up north, either in the 620/183 area or perhaps Round Rock.

There will be a Central Market outside of Grandview Hills at 620 near Four Points. There is a big development planned there. Four Points News reported that it will be anchored by a movie theater and Central Market.

[CarnivalGal]

One of the new locations mentioned is Hill COuntry Galleria. That just seems like a completely bonehead decision. There is already a Newflower Market there, which may be smaller, but it is a heck of a lot cheaper than Whole Foods.

[JERiv]

I'm not getting where in Arbor Trails they plan to put that Whole Foods. There isn't any space in there. They just finished building that section where Five Guys is.

Or are they planning to build even more stuff in there???

The HEBs down here are actually very good. Not sure if Whole Foods at William Cannon would take that many customers from them.

If only they Stratus folks would get started on that Alamo Drafthouse on Mopac/Slaughter. Sigh. That's one thing I do want to start building down here...

[TexasHorseLady]

Whether or not an HEB Plus is "horrible" (and I think that's a pretty strong word, based on the ones I've seen) depends on which one it is (and on the person doing the observing). I'm a former personal chef, and I take my grocery stores pretty seriously and have been in a LOT of them. I have HEB Pluses, and Randalls, that I prefer over others, but have never been in one in the Austin area (and if I'm out and about in my current profession and pass one that I haven't been to, I'm likely to stop in just to check it out) that qualified for that word.

Heck, there's two HEB's (neither one a "Plus", but one relatively upscale) in Georgetown, and I shop at both of them for different reasons, because they serve different demographics and each carries some items I can't find at the other. Which one I choose depends on the kind of food I'm preparing and the ingredients I need for that dish.

Achtungpv, what HEB Pluses are you calling horrible, and how exactly are they horrible?

[kasiem]

Originally Posted by atxcio

And it comes on the heels of a bunch of new natural food stores opening, like Sprouts and Newflower. Plus Sun Harvest remodeled their stores. I wonder what they are thinking over at WF.

I'd much rather have Whole Foods or more HEB's than Sprouts... Hubby sells
paper products/restaurant stuff for a local company, and he was in there the other day at the Round Rock location and he was talking to the managers.

I was under the impression that most of the produce, meat, etc. came from local growers/ranchers- nope it's all shipped in from Oregon-

At least Whole Foods, HEB, & Central Market are local, and do more business with Texas suppliers...

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by JERiv

I'm not getting where in Arbor Trails they plan to put that Whole Foods. There isn't any space in there. They just finished building that section where Five Guys is.

Or are they planning to build even more stuff in there???

The HEBs down here are actually very good. Not sure if Whole Foods at William Cannon would take that many customers from them.

If only they Stratus folks would get started on that Alamo Drafthouse on Mopac/Slaughter. Sigh. That's one thing I do want to start building down here...

The area where Five Guys is still has several vacant store fronts and there are other parts of it that are vacant. Perhaps leases are expiring soon and they plan to clear out one of the bigger stores. I hope they aren't planning on tearing down more trees and paving over more of of the land.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Achtungpv, what HEB Pluses are you calling horrible, and how exactly are they horrible?

I guess I dislike them for the same reason I can't stand Super Targets, Super Wal Marts, etc. More doesn't mean a better shopping experience. I'd much rather shop at a smaller store that puts more care into their product selection than just filling aisles with worthless crap.

Pretty much I now buy all my meat at The Meat House, all other food at Central Market, and non-food items at the Targhetto. For items I buy, it has been cheaper doing that than shopping solely at HEB Plus. I went to HEB Plus the past two weeks since I was in the vicinity and was shocked at how much it cost compared to what I was spending at the so-called upscale stores. Not to mention it's a much more pleasant shopping experience that is worth the extra 30 minutes required to hit all 3 stores. If you want to see what customer service can be go the Meat House on Bee Caves Rd. Plus their grass fed beef prices are half of what you pay at CM or WF. You won't be disappointed.

[TexasHorseLady]

Odd. I keep track of what various items cost at various stores (little spiral of 3x5 cards comes in handy that way). Some items are a better buy at Central Market (which is, you realize, HEB, right?), some at Randalls (if you have the card, and that rarely, though it's gotten a LOT better lately), some at Sun Harvest, some at Sprouts, some at Fiesta, some at Brookshire Brothers, most are a better buy at HEB. Sam's has the best meat at the best prices, generally, which was a shocker for me (the quality, not the price), and we have freezers which, when they aren't full of our home-raised beef, are full of Sam's meat, generally, with a few things from Green's up in Zabcikville and such. Whole Foods generally doesn't make the list as far as price is concerned; Central Market is the same price as HEB for some things and higher for others (but has some things one can't get at HEB ). (I did mention that I'm a grocery store junky, right?)

Oddly enough, I've found that I can get better produce for better prices of some kinds of produce (organic included) at Walmart, of all places. Mushrooms, for example, tend to be fresher and much less expensive at the one closest to us than anywhere else (and I'm talking quality as well as price, I don't believe in buying lesser quality when it comes to food, but I also don't believe in going on the assumption that name brand is better than store brand - I actually buy some of each and run comparison taste tests).

All of which is a very longwinded way around the barn of saying that it's not as simple as looking at the sign on the outside of the store. And that I still wish that WF, or CM, or any of the new kids in town would open up in the old Albertson's building in Georgetown so we'd have more close-by options.