Boulder embraces Whole Foods; grocery considers 2nd location

BOULDER — It may not be surprising that Whole Foods Market should win Boulder Weekly’s Best Health Food Store and Best Fresh Produce awards in the Best of Boulder issue released in May. That Whole Foods also won Best Grocery Store in the readers’ choice category is a testament to the store’s popularity with the general public, not just those interested in health foods.

It takes 300 full-time employees and 75 part-time employees to keep Whole Foods’ Boulder location going. “The team-member base has grown 100 percent over three years,´ said Louis Karp, the store’s manager.

The regional customer base has grown, too. Whole Foods has a Denver store, and by April 2002 it will have one in Highlands Ranch. Boulder also may have a second store, eventually.

“We are looking for other locations in South Boulder, but there doesn’t appear to be land available,” Karp said. “We’re also looking at other locations around Highway 36 near Westminster, maybe Louisville.”

But the location suggestions keep coming. “We get a lot of requests for (new locations in) Longmont and Fort Collins,” he said.

For now, Karp is working on improving the Boulder store. The parking lot is being revamped to lessen congestion and open up more space. Karp called the current flow of traffic “a nightmare” and hopes the 31 additional spaces will help.

Space inside the store is also an issue. “We outgrew the store almost the day we moved in,” Karp said. “I wish we had about 10,000 more square feet and more seating space.”

The store recently purchased carts that are one-third the size of traditional grocery store carts. Karp hopes the smaller carts will help free up crowded aisles.

Karp said the store is planning “extensive remodeling” to be completed in time for the holidays. “I want to bedazzle Boulder with the new concepts we will continue to roll out,” he said. “We want to continue to reinvent ourselves.”

Karp declined to comment on the Boulder location’s revenue, but he did say the location “exceeded the highest expectation we had.”

Southwest Regional Manager Anthony Gillmore said that revenue for all of Whole Foods’ stores increases 8 to 9 percent annually.

“For the (mainstream grocery) industry, it’s about 2 to 4 percent,” he said. “We are one of the fastest growing chains. We are competing strongly against conventional markets in Boulder.”

When Whole Foods entered Boulder three years ago, it competed against long-time favorites Alfalfa’s and Wild Oats. Gillmore and Karp cited reasons for the underdog’s success.

“I feel like the reason the store has been so successful is the ownership and the morale in the store,” Karp said. “It is very good, and it translates to good service, and that translates to good sales.

“The people who work in the store are so amazing.”

Gillmore shared Karp’s enthusiasm. “The store opened very competitively, with service, value and great selection,” he said. “And the Boulder community is very well-tuned to the natural lifestyle.”

Registered dietician Anne Theissen, who owns a Boulder clinic that shares her name, offered her reasons for patronizing Whole Foods Market.

“They have much lower prices because they are much larger, and being a national chain they can do that,” she said.

Selection also makes a difference. “They offer run-of-the-mill brands, bulk, and a huge mix of fresh and packaged food,” Theissen said. “It’s not quite so old-fashioned like the old health foods stores that are so specialized and cramped.

Although Theissen, who is also a professional herbalist, prefers Alfalfa’s for that store’s selection of herbs, “For the general public, (Whole Foods) carries enough,” she said.

Founded 21 years ago by John Mackey, Craig Weller and Mark Skiles, Whole Foods Market has grown mostly by buying out other regional health food stores and chains. Over the years, Whole Foods has ingested Wellspring Grocery, Bread & Circus, Mrs. Gooch’s, Fresh Fields, Bread of Life, Amrion Inc., Merchant of Vino, Allegro Coffee, Nature’s Heartland and Food for Thought.

To date, Whole Foods has 123 stores in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Whole Foods has tried to fill a niche halfway between a health food store, stocked with alternative and natural products, and a traditional grocery store that features mainstream products.

Maintaining an old-time country store appearance is part of Whole Food’s schtick. Boulder residents have been known to dislike chain stores; however, Whole Foods’ down-home decor at least gives the appearance of great-grandma’s country store.

Apples sit neatly stacked in rows, arranged by a careful hand. Other produce awaits shoppers in baskets and crates, as if fresh from farmers’ fields and orchards.

Most of the meat is cut and packaged to order at the butcher counter, instead of being pre-packaged in shrink wrap and Styrofoam.

Whole Foods prides itself on its “in-your-face” cheese display, a companywide motif that lets customers get cozy with a surprising variety of cheeses.

Hand-lettered chalkboard signs dot the store, and there seem to be many more employees available than at most grocery stores.

Contrasting the old-time charm is a modern environmental awareness that appeals to Boulder shoppers. The store’s sturdy plastic bags, for example, earn customers a 5-cents refund when they bring their own bags back.

The store carries environmentally friendly products such as unbleached flower, organic produce and Nest Fresh Eggs, which come from free-roaming chickens.

“It’s a little mystifying why the store has been so successful, because of the other stores in the area,” dietician Thiessen said. “But they are convenient, inexpensive, and they do offer so many things.”

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