2900 West Dallas: Multifamily At 2900 W. Dallas St.

[J008]

I've heard from my daughter (she's been giving tours every day for the past week) that' it's a really cool store. Looking forward to stopping by for a growler.

While I love Petrol Station, it is really good to have a closer place to fill a growler. I am really suprised more places don't fill 'em.

[crunchtastic]

From my vantage point (a 10th floor window looking squarely over the WF parking lot)

Every parking spot is full, people parking along the traffic circle drive, 16 cars circling, and I've already seen 3 illegal left turns over the medium onto southbound Waugh amd one accident at the D'Amico intersection. At slightly before 7, when I arrived at work, people were lined up outside.

Did I miss something? Is this communist russia, and today is the first time in a generation we can buy something other than rotten potatoes and vodka?

[Highway6]

Did I miss something? Is this communist russia, and today is the first time in a generation we can buy something other than rotten potatoes and vodka?

They carry the organic vodka and their rotten potatoes are hormone and steroid-free.

[RedScare]

From my vantage point (a 10th floor window looking squarely over the WF parking lot)

Every parking spot is full, people parking along the traffic circle drive, 16 cars circling, and I've already seen 3 illegal left turns over the medium onto southbound Waugh amd one accident at the D'Amico intersection. At slightly before 7, when I arrived at work, people were lined up outside.

Did I miss something? Is this communist russia, and today is the first time in a generation we can buy something other than rotten potatoes and vodka?

How to put a socially conscious face on your typical American uber-consumption...go to a hip grocery store in your SUV and feel morally superior to mere Walmart, Target and Kroger shoppers.

Phenomenal marketing strategy to get the upper middle class to pay far more than the product is actually worth.

[Jesse]

I took a tour on Saturday. It's a gorgeous store... definitely an emphasis on fresh foods over packaged. The entire outer rim of the store (2/3 of the sq ft) is seafood/poultry/sandwiches/sushi/bbq/etc etc. The interior (~1/3) is all the boxed stuff.

The wine/beer bar is really nice too, though I imagine it's always going to be pretty crowded. Fresh BBQ is something I haven't seen in the other WF Markets - I'm looking forward to trying it.

They're not lying when they said they went green - lots of natural light from skylights, and everything else is LED. Lots of small trees in the parking lot too, which will eventually offer up some shade. I'm glad they completely separated the entrace from the exit. The Allegro coffee bar will be nice as well.

That being said, it's going to be a f'ing madhouse in there.

[brian0123]

The wine/beer bar is really nice too, though I imagine it's always going to be pretty crowded.

I don't understand the excitement surrounding a grocery store. The idea of hanging out and having beer/wine at a grocery store just sounds completely lame to me.

[DrLan34]

it's about adding density to the inner loop. the more grocery stores, the better suited we are to support high density development in the loop.

[Jesse]

I don't understand the excitement surrounding a grocery store. The idea of hanging out and having beer/wine at a grocery store just sounds completely lame to me.

I guess I was referring more to the ability to buy a growler of a local/microbrew. I too don't really care to spend longer in a grocery store than I need to.

[Fringe]

I don't understand the excitement surrounding a grocery store. The idea of hanging out and having beer/wine at a grocery store just sounds completely lame to me.

Not saying you should go to the grocery store just to drink but let's face it, everybody has to go shopping sometime and being able to shop and drink is a plus in my book.

Oh and many times WF gets a keg of some really good stuff that you can't find in a bottle and may even have a hard time finding in a bar. They often have $3 pints.

[ricco67]

Not saying you should go to the grocery store just to drink but let's face it, everybody has to go shopping sometime and being able to shop and drink is a plus in my book.

If it stays this crowded for in several months, they need to seriously think about expanding their hours.

What is REALLY sad is that they just mentioned the opening of the store on KHOU.

Really? This merits a 1 minute segment?

[kylejack]

From my vantage point (a 10th floor window looking squarely over the WF parking lot)

Every parking spot is full, people parking along the traffic circle drive, 16 cars circling, and I've already seen 3 illegal left turns over the medium onto southbound Waugh amd one accident at the D'Amico intersection. At slightly before 7, when I arrived at work, people were lined up outside.

Did I miss something? Is this communist russia, and today is the first time in a generation we can buy something other than rotten potatoes and vodka?

They're giving away free goodies and 1% of sales today are going to the Houston Area Women's Center, so I wish them a lot of success today.

[Fringe]

If it stays this crowded for in several months, they need to seriously think about expanding their hours.

What is REALLY sad is that they just mentioned the opening of the store on KHOU.

Really? This merits a 1 minute segment?

I probably won't set foot in the place for a few weeks. Once the initial excitement is over it shouldn't be that bad. I've never understood why people crowd into a new place.

Obviously it's a place many people have anxiously been waiting for, so that's definitely newsworthy.

[ricco67]

They're giving away free goodies and 1% of sales today are going to the Houston Area Women's Center, so I wish them a lot of success today.

Not to say I don't care about the charities involved, but they better give away lifetime discounts or bags of gold for me to go on an opening day, or even opening WEEK!

[crunchtastic]

They're giving away free goodies and 1% of sales today are going to the Houston Area Women's Center, so I wish them a lot of success today.

That's wonderful. And it nicely supports my commentary on customers who so gleefully allow themselves to be played by marketers. WF's charitable giving is not limited to one day, and this particular day is almost certainly a very small number in their overalll percentage of giving. But they know people who like charitable giving will repeat their talking point. And everyone loves free stuff!

While eating my lunch, I watched a red toyota unsuccesfully cirle the lot for a parking pace going on 22 minutes. You never get those minutes back. Call me old and bitter, but I don't need a carnival to buy my groceries. And to end on an even bitchier note (I am cranky and on deadline) because I bring my lunch instead of buying overpriced prepared food from grocery stores, I have more money to write big checks of my own to favorite charities.

[ricco67]

That's wonderful. And it nicely supports my commentary on customers who so gleefully allow themselves to be played by marketers. WF's charitable giving is not limited to one day, and this particular day is almost certainly a very small number in their overalll percentage of giving. But they know people who like charitable giving will repeat their talking point. And everyone loves free stuff!

While eating my lunch, I watched a red toyota unsuccesfully cirle the lot for a parking pace going on 22 minutes. You never get those minutes back. Call me old and bitter, but I don't need a carnival to buy my groceries. And to end on an even bitchier note (I am cranky and on deadline) because I bring my lunch instead of buying overpriced prepared food from grocery stores, I have more money to write big checks of my own to favorite charities.

if I knew you had a view, I would have suggested a time lapse movie of the place. I'm sure it would have been comical to watch.

[barracuda]

I don't understand the excitement surrounding a grocery store. The idea of hanging out and having beer/wine at a grocery store just sounds completely lame to me.

I wonder if the folks crowding that store know there are four other WF's in Houston, all selling mostly the same items. In fact, I count at least 34 supermarkets just inside the loop where you can pick up all the essentials and then some, not to mention all the small corner markets and general merchandisers who also sell groceries.

The only explanation is that some people must like the spectacle of crowded places combined with too much time to kill on what is a workday for most of us.

[trymahjong]

From my vantage point (a 10th floor window looking squarely over the WF parking lot)

Every parking spot is full, people parking along the traffic circle drive, 16 cars circling, and I've already seen 3 illegal left turns over the medium onto southbound Waugh amd one accident at the D'Amico intersection. At slightly before 7, when I arrived at work, people were lined up outside.

Did I miss something? Is this communist russia, and today is the first time in a generation we can buy something other than rotten potatoes and vodka?

Our neighborhood yahoo group has been blogging about traffic in parking lot---here's the latest

[rsb320]

Just like a new restaurant, I'm going to wait a while before getting mixed up in that madness.

Crunch, have you been in the store yet?

[crunchtastic]

Just like a new restaurant, I'm going to wait a while before getting mixed up in that madness.

Crunch, have you been in the store yet?

I have! Went in Friday about 3:00 for dinner fixins. It's great because I can walk over and leave my car in the garage. Still wayyy too many tourists; the store was uncomfortably packed but I guess not a lot of actual shopping going on-- no waits at the check-out lanes. The layout is a 100 times better than Kirby, much more space to move around and the check outs aren't backed up into the aisles. Other impressions: I much prefer the produce section and seafood counter at Kirby. It seems like the new store has a less selection. In case you forget what stuff is high margin....the supplements and fancy soaps/cosmetics and prepared foods sections are all much larger. The little bar area was cute. All the stools were filled with older men (60s) drinking wine. I much prefer the meat counter here at the new store, seems to have more selection (just the opposite reaction I had to produce and seafood, but my perception could be altered by the new floorplan). There's a much bigger dining area inside, plus lots of seating outside under the giant fans.

Having a separate exit helps flow a lot, but the bottleneck in produce is still quite painful.

All in all, I feel like all the extra space is devoted to stuff I don't buy, but the benefit of being able to get fresh items every couple of days without having to drive outweighs the irritation of the people wandering aimlessly around the salad bar area. Plus my view of the parking lot provides mindless entertainment for when I'm on dull conference calls. Thumbs up for the new WF.

Most Irritating Shopper Award (there was a lot of competition, believe me) went to the yoga-mom letting her 5 year old pick out his own sushi. Meanwhile a half dozen people stood waiting for mom to remove her brat (and the smart-car sized stroller) from the tiny sushi counter. Presumably the infant in the stroller was still too young to have developed a taste for raw fish, but the older kid was picking up every tray as if he was inspecting it.

[Fringe]

Most Irritating Shopper Award (there was a lot of competition, believe me) went to the yoga-mom letting her 5 year old pick out his own sushi. Meanwhile a half dozen people stood waiting for mom to remove her brat (and the smart-car sized stroller) from the tiny sushi counter. Presumably the infant in the stroller was still too young to have developed a taste for raw fish, but the older kid was picking up every tray as if he was inspecting it.

LOL. My wife and daughter work for WF and they could fill a book with all the irritating shoppers they come across. Honestly, I wouldn't last a day in retail. Houston has some of the rudest people on the planet and I would be quick to tell them. But in the "business" the customer is always right.

[swtsig]

LOL. My wife and daughter work for WF and they could fill a book with all the irritating shoppers they come across. Honestly, I wouldn't last a day in retail. Houston has some of the rudest people on the planet and I would be quick to tell them. But in the "business" the customer is always right.

you must not get out much.

[20thStDad]

you must not get out much.

That would extrapolate to there being even more rude people than he thinks there are.

A-holes are everywhere, especially in pretentious overpriced shopping locations.

[skwatra]

i walked over there last week just to check it out. we had a good experience, just wandered the store and bought a couple of drinks to sit outside with. it was crowded but nothing nuts, pretty easy to get around and the express checkout was efficient. didn't run into any crazy customers or anything. the bar was full and plenty of people were sitting outside. they really need to expand the bike rack...

overall i think its a good addition to the neighborhood and looking forward to shopping there on occasion.

[swtsig]

That would extrapolate to there being even more rude people than he thinks there are.

A-holes are everywhere, especially in pretentious overpriced shopping locations.

i meant out of the city.

[Jax]

I was on a bike ride today and I stopped by to get a drink. Nice place.

[DrLan34]

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/01-02-12-14-25-is-it-the-year-of-the-mid-rise-in-houston/ looks like they plan to break ground on the apartment complex in february

[lockmat]

http://houston.cultu...ise-in-houston/ looks like they plan to break ground on the apartment complex in february

[swtsig]

a little disappointing since at one time Marvy mentioned putting a high rise on this lot... 29 stories, i believe? that said i commend the infill that is currently occurring within the inner loop.

[DrLan34]

a little disappointing since at one time Marvy mentioned putting a high rise on this lot... 29 stories, i believe? that said i commend the infill that is currently occurring within the inner loop.

ya i also thought it was going to be mixed use but i'm with you, i dig the infill, apartment complexes are being thrown up all over the inner loop. hopefully all the residential density will spur some well planned walkable retail developments (such as parking lot to the side or at the back of the establishment)

[fatesdisastr]

I know this doesn't have anything to do with this specific store but this story is about Whole Foods organics that come from China.

Whole Foods touts that it's food is organic and locally grown, yet many of their products in fact come from China. I figured some of yall would be interested in this news story.

http://youtu.be/MBiI9KcJ9UY