Readers' Thoughts on Whole Foods Rumors

The mere rumor of a third Whole Foods Market for the St. Louis area, this one possibly located within the city limits -- rumors that weren't exactly quashed by Whole Foods' curiously phrased denial -- definitely sparked the interest of Gut Check readers and passers-by.

The original post has 39 comments as I write this, most of them answering Gut Check's call for suggested locations.

Peruse some of the most interesting comments, including from those who want no part of Whole Foods in the city, after the jump.

"Kitty" succinctly summed up several readers' suggestions/wishes for a location in the Central West End:

Central West End period.

"Bo" wants Whole Foods in the Central West End and even has a suggested location:

What about going into the old Schnucks building on the corner of Kingshighway and Delmar in the CWE? That place needs some help and it could really reinvigorate the area there. There's lots of parking and traffic. Please WF?!

Another popular location is the south city, with multiple votes for the long-abandoned Food Land building on South Jefferson Avenue just north of I-44.Regular commenter "JZ71" is an astute observer of local businesses and offers his take on that possibility:

While the old Foodland on Jefferson @ I-44 is intriguing (since it's in the TIF process now), I could see Whole Foods being very interested in the Fye Music store on Hampton just north of Chippewa.  Alternately, with Crestwood Court / Plaza on the verge of announcing their redevelopment plans, I could see them landing there, as well.  Ultimately, demographics will drive their decision.

"Lincoln-Douglas" likes south city, too, but thinks the chances of a city location are slim:

Spot on about the Brentwood store. It's inconvenience and claustrophobic setting are the main reasons I never go (and the groceries are too expensive). South city seems the obvious choice, St. Louis Hills or Holly Hills. There's a ton of empty retail space at [Chippewa] and Kingshighway, but it's kind of an economic dead zone. Lafayette Square is also a good idea, but I don't see that or the CWE happening. The WF model, despite what the city folks might want, is to go where things are pretty clean and security won't be much of an issue, plus where there is a sufficient customer base of affluent, hip people. Culture-wise, WF is more like Schnuck's than Wild Oats; they're not looking to appease hipsters and granolas, so I wouldn't look for them to go anywhere particularly interesting. To wit, where did they put their second store in St. Louis? Exactly.

"Benya31" has an interesting (if unlikely) idea:

Very easy, at the corner of kingshighway and washington at the old empty spanish church. such a beautiful building and would be a truly unique experience. imagine having a real market feel at a WF! It could be Saint Louis' version of the Chelsea Market. Plus its got a tall tower from which they could hang a huge WF flag, they give me that kind of feel. but seriously 5 more TJ's before another whole foods

Of course not everyone is a fan of Whole Foods or its stereotypical clientele. Here is the take of "Tad & Muffy from Clayton":

WWRPS --- Where Would Ron Paul Shop?

The location needs to be "ethnically" safe enough to allow students and artist to over-spend on organically e-coli laced arugula, yet "diverse" enough to be low rent.

Perhaps test the potential locale by counting the number of hipsters you could hit with 2 swings of a dead cat (ethically recycled road kill of course).

And then there's perhaps the most reliable RFT commenter of them all, "ihatesuburbs":

Keep whole foods out of the city as we don't need that pretentious certified organic horseshit. Talk about an overpriced and disgustingly trendy place for all of the cockwad hipsters to go show how trendy they are by overpaying for food. Keep this shitty big box experience out and build it where it belongs, in the shitty fucking suburbs.