More on Whole Foods Market at the DC USA

[chnews]

Thank you to all those who have emailed Karen Riley expressing your support for bringing Whole Foods Market to the DC USA retail complex in Columbia Heights. We just spoke with Ms. Riley this past Friday and we know that your emails are having a positive impact. We have provided some updates on this Whole Foods situation on our website, Columbia Heights News. Please refer to our article entitled, More on Whole Foods Market.

In summary, Ms. Riley was very impressed with the emails that have been sent to her. She has been forwarding each email to the other members of the real estate team at Whole Foods Market corporate offices in Austin, Texas. She said that she has received over 300 emails so far which is more than twice the number that we have been reporting on our own tally. We are very encouraged by the response from the community.

Ms. Riley told us that her team will be reconvening sometime next month to have further discussion on DC USA as a potential new site for Whole Foods Market. We believe that we have reached the first critical juncture in our email campaign to bring Whole Foods Market to DC USA. We need to try to get as many people to email Ms. Riley before her team's meeting in March in order for them to feel the full weight of our support. If you have not already done so, please email Karen Riley at karen.riley@wholefoods.com to voice your support for Whole Foods. Again, we ask that you please send us an email at info@columbiaheightsnews.org letting us know that you have emailed Ms. Riley so that we can keep count. Alternatively, you may simply cc or bcc on the message that you write to Ms. Riley.

Please stay informed about this matter by visiting our special Whole Foods Market section dedicated to this issue. There you will find all the latest information about the efforts to bring Whole Foods Market to DC USA. Please stay active and help spread the word.

Columbia Heights News
http://www.columbiaheightsnews.org/
info@columbiaheightsnews.org

[peter]

I am all for a CH Whole Foods. I'm curious, though, about some of the commentary that suggests we're bereft of one in the area. Is P St really that far?

[chnews]

We spoke with Drew Greenwald, President of Grid Properties. Please read our recent post, Whole Foods Update From Grid Properties.

At this point in our campaign, we feel that we can achieve the greatest impact by writing to Chairman and CEO of Whole Foods Market, John Mackey, directly. If you are in support of bringing Whole Foods Market to the DC USA, please email Chairman Mackey at john.mackey@wholefoods.com. We strongly recommend that you copy (cc) Karen Riley (karen.riley@wholefoods.com), the Real Estate Coordinator for Whole Foods, on the message you send to Chairman Mackey. Please be as descriptive as you can as to why you support a Whole Foods Market location in Columbia Heights. It's important that you explain why parking will not be an issue for you.

As before, we urge you to copy us (cc or bcc) on the message you send to Whole Foods Market at info@columbiaheightsnews.org so that we can keep count of the messages and report the latest number to you. We would also like to make periodic compilations of all the emails sent and provide it to Grid Properties. Mr. Greenwald told us that his team can include the messages in their marketing reports and presentations to Whole Foods Market. He told us that our campaign is making a positive impact and that he appreciated our efforts. Again, we ask that you help spread the word.

Columbia Heights News
info@columbiaheightsnews.org

[DJ]

Why do we continue to waste energy on Whole Foods?! Let's court Trader Joes instead.

http://www.traderjoes.com/about/index.asp

They are going in over in Foggy Bottom far enough away from Columbia Heights that they would probably put one here too - without the asinine requirement for parking. Whole Foods will feel foolish once they realize the full scale of the opportunity they've missed.

[alaaro]

With the Whole Foods debacle, why don't they just validate parking for an hour or so if you shop there, rather than just having an open lot like the one over in Logan? Wouldn't that solve the problem, or am I missing something?

[JDanielson]

Hi, All.
I haven't heard anything on Whole Foods progress in a while. Just wondering if there's any fresh news. I saw DJ's post about Trader Joe's. I think that would be a great alternative if WF stalls. I'd be likely to give either the majority of my grocery budget if they were here in the neighborhood. So, do we know if anyone has discussed this with TJ's as a contingency plan?

Jeff

[Shai]

I believe Harris Teeter is also in the running.

[DJ]

No way Harris Teeters goes in DC USA. There is a Harris Teeters going in on Kalorama in Adams Morgan approximately 8 blocks away. Too close for a second Harris Teeter. Our best bet would be Trader Joes - or even Safeway, Food Lion, or Shoppers Food Warehouse.

[Mr. T]

Article in the Washington Post about the possibility of Whole Foods coming to Columbia Heights (apologies if the link doesn't work):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/21/AR2006072101582_pf.html

[alaaro]

Just my $.02 on this - Safeway, Shoppers, or Food Lion do no good - low end grocery stores that won't help to better the area. There's a Safeway over in Adams Morgan anyway. Teeter is pretty much the same as Giant, in terms of pricing and quality - having one across the street from the other will do no good. I think it has got to be Whole Foods - a high end store that will draw more people to these new developments.

[GforGood]

Is there still no news on what's going on with the Whole Foods situation?