Whole Foods to open Wednesday
LOWER GWYNEDD » The North Wales store we first learned to love as Fresh Fields back in the early ’90s closed its doors for good on Sunday, making way for a Whole Foods Market debut in Spring House at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
“We have customers that have supported us all these years and I think they will be in awe when they get to Spring House,” said store manager Drew Goldschmidt, who had managed the North Wales store for the last three years.
Like the rest of the North Wales crew, he is making the transition to the new store at 1111 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, which is nearly twice the size, offering amenities galore that would not have been possible without the move to a new location.
“People loved the employees at North Wales and they’re all coming to Spring House, plus we added another 50 people, who shoppers can trust to help them get their products. That was always a big thing at North Wales and we hope to bring that to Spring House,” said Goldschmidt, who is well acquainted with the 39-year-old upscale chain’s growth and innovations, having helped launch the Plymouth Meeting Mall store in 2010.
Surrounding customers with transparency regarding what they’re buying is a trend that’s been amplified by the potential of the new space, he allowed.
“We always try to one-up the next store and do better, especially when thinking about the shopper’s convenience, with our grab-and-go-items and new self-serve pizza. We understand
that everyone is busy, so they can just come in and grab it themselves,” Goldschmidt noted. “We have full service cases and open areas, which is the new norm, where you can see where people are preparing your food — the butchers are breaking down meat, fish mongers are breaking down fish, and you can see right into the bakery where they’re baking bread and decorating cakes. We do a lot in-house, more so than a lot of other purveyors, so more and more we want to highlight that. ‘Oh, he’s my
butcher and I know him. He’s cutting my steaks and I can see him do it.’ That’s something that’s definitely come about in the last few years and we think it’s very exciting for the shopping experience. We’ll also have a smoker on site to smoke meats, so come and get your barbeque.”
In addition to full-service meat and seafood departments featuring Global Animal Partnership 5 Step Animal Welfare-rated meat and an expanded produce department showcasing seasonal produce such as local mushrooms from Phillips Mushrooms and Mother Earth, as well as tropical fruit like jackfruit, dragon fruit and rambutan,
the Spring House location will be home to more than 100 local supplier products, ranging from chocolate and honey to goat and cow milk
“The North Wales store always had a good local following, and the new store will have kiosks where we will feature small purveyors and makers of products, whether it’s food or body products, and they will rotate. Backyard Beans coffee is a great company that initially got into our North Wales store and is now all over the company,” Goldschmidt said.
A homewares section will offer a wide-ranging inventory, including cutting boards, dish towels, coasters and ceramics from local
suppliers Half and a Third and DuTill and Daughters.
Over 400 varieties of wine and 90 varieties of craft beer, including a large local beer selection, will be available.
The store also scored a tour de force by landing Curiosity Doughnuts, heralded as one of the country’s best doughnuts by industry gurus, as a full-time vendor for Whole Foods in Spring House.
Previously, the doughnuts had been available only two days a week at a market in New Jersey, but will now be available in a variety of fresh yeasted, super cake and cruller doughnuts made in-store daily at the Spring House store every day beginning at 7 a.m. and sold until they are gone.
An in-store pub with more than a dozen beers on tap and full-service coffee bar that will offer coffee, cold-pressed juice and kombucha on tap, as well as a lunch and dinner menu and a seating area will go a long way in creating a warm and welcoming ambience, Goldschmidt noted.
“With more food options, like the pizza, and more space to hang out, you can now come here, sit down for a beer or coffee with a friend, or get on the Wi-Fi and hang out all day if you want,” he said.
With the company having become part of Amazon.com recently, prices have been lowered, Goldschmidt noted.
“We don’t know what else will come. With a company like Amazon there’s always a lot of innovation,” he added.
With nearly 500 stores in the U.S., Canada and UK, Whole Foods Market was named “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” by Health magazine and has been ranked one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 20 consecutive years.
Regular hours at Whole Foods Market, Spring House Village Shopping Center, 1111 N. Bethlehem Pike, Spring House, will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.