Incredible Lightness of Being at Whole Foods Market

Tonight I was invited to a friends & family preview of the new Whole Foods Market on River Road (at Craycroft Road).

Wow! I’m impressed. The store is like a beacon in an otherwise lackluster corner of the Foothills. No other grocery store or any other store for that matter has this lighting esthetic with high beam ceilings and inviting lighting, so much more pleasant than ambient lighting.  I’ll call it the incredible lightness of being where shoppers will be seduced  to linger, to shop, hang out, and return again and again.

Yes, hang out — there’s a bar with numerous beers on draft and wine by the glass soon to be serving pub food. I am sure this will be an instant hangout.

New Foothills hangout

Aisles are wide and the floor — poured concrete like someone swirled across it for the final touches. I wish this was my flooring.

Tonight was a party, one I felt privileged to attend along with some other Tucson foodie glitterati — Matt Russell from One the Menu Live radio; Don Luria and his wife Donna Nordin, former owners of Terra Cotta; and Judith Mattson, Tucson Local Food News.  My favorite handsome grassfed beef entrepreneur Paul Schwennesen from Double Check Ranch was walking around wearing his unmistakable cowboy hat and friendly smile.

People seemed happy be there both as guests and employees.

We sampled salumi, sushi, bodacious olives, creamy heirloom tomato soup, local beers, artisan breads, lavish cheeses, and more. WFM makes its own potato chips!

For the love of olives

Whole Foods Market opens Wednesday at 9 a.m.  If you go, give me your feedback. You can read more about the new Tucson Whole Foods Market here.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2013 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Grocery Stores. Tags for this post: Tucson food, Tucson grocery store, WFM Tucson, Whole Foods Market Tucson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.