yeah I agree that the other Whole Foods is about 5 miles away. But with the new development happening on the other side of downtown, the expansion of midtown, lofts in downtown... etc, I think there is a good business case argument for building one in the area. The demographics in the area would be good business news for them as I'm sure that a lot of people living downtown/midtown probably earn reasonable/good incomes, and are more aware of their lifestyles and environment. As for taking away Kirby business, River Oaks and the Galleria crowd would not becoming downtown to go shopping! Plus you are moving closer to people in the Heights etc...So even though their business might see a drop at their Kirby store, I think that the potential base in new customers would be worth a lot more.
With regards to the other postings,yes it is more pricey than normal supermarkets, but i find the food better quality than Randalls and my philosophy is that the air pollution is crap in Houston, so you need to give your body a break in other areas. Sure I pay more for my groceries, I just feel organic/natural food is better.
AT THE END OF THE DAY THOUGH, IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GO AND WRITE AWAY, NOTHING WILL EVER GET DONE. IT'S ALWAYS WORTH AN EFFORT!