IronTiger Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 (edited) When trying to research AppleTree and others in Houston, the librarian gave me a bunch of newspaper clippings to look through, and one was on Whole Foods not too long after it opened in Houston (it was where Petsmart is now, next to modern-day Trader Joe's). The difference is this was when Whole Foods was far less mainstreamed than today, resulting in some rather odd differences in employees and customers. Reactions of mine when reading: - At the time I took this I was working a night job in a certain chain grocery store, I'm pretty sure my manager dressed rather casually too, but it was the night shift. - She named her baby Thor?! I was thinking "dang, she must be a huge Avengers fan" when I read this, but probably was going after Norse gods (or something) - Why did they feel the need to point out that the guy who wore a dress to work (once) was heterosexual? All the gay people I've known or seen didn't cross-dress (at least in public). - "Smurve", "Quemical"? Were these ever a "thing" or did they make these up on the fly? - Hey, there was a McDuff in the same shopping center! Must have been to the left of the Alabama Theater. page 1 page 2 page 2 zoomed in on the cut-off part edit: fixed link Edited May 9, 2015 by IronTiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I don't recall a McDuff. There was the Whole Foods, the Bookstop, Whole Earth, Cactus, and a succession of restaurants at the South end. Doesn't mean there wasn't a McDuff, but I don't remember it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 I don't recall a McDuff. There was the Whole Foods, the Bookstop, Whole Earth, Cactus, and a succession of restaurants at the South end. Doesn't mean there wasn't a McDuff, but I don't remember it. Maybe because it was a reused bag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 When trying to research AppleTree and others in Houston, the librarian gave me a bunch of newspaper clippings to look through, and one was on Whole Foods not too long after it opened in Houston (it was where Petsmart is now, next to modern-day Trader Joe's). The difference is this was when Whole Foods was far less mainstreamed than today, resulting in some rather odd differences in employees and customers.Reactions of mine when reading:- At the time I took this I was working a night job in a certain chain grocery store, I'm pretty sure my manager dressed rather casually too, but it was the night shift.- She named her baby Thor?! I was thinking "dang, she must be a huge Avengers fan" when I read this, but probably was going after Norse gods (or something)- Why did they feel the need to point out that the guy who wore a dress to work (once) was heterosexual? All the gay people I've known or seen didn't cross-dress (at least in public).- "Smurve", "Quemical"? Were these ever a "thing" or did they make these up on the fly?- Hey, there was a McDuff in the same shopping center! Must have been to the left of the Alabama Theater.page 1page 2page 2 zoomed in on the cut-off part You doubled up on the first link. Here's the top of page 2. Anyways, you gotta take a late 80's point of view into reference here. Most grocery stores at the time had a relatively dressy uniform compared to what we use now. I mean at Walmart all you need is a blue shirt, and khakis. They don't even make you buy a company uniform. Back then most employees would of had on like a smock, dress shirt and dress pants. The managers, may of even had a jacket on especially if the chain was considered up-scale. From what I can gather at the time Whole Foods was considered about as up-scale as it is now. Thor may have been an Avengers reference.. who knows with hipsters though lol. As for the words, they were probably words that the staff used, but no one else. I can ask my granddad if he remembers them as he was getting into Naturopathy at the time and frequented Whole Foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 You doubled up on the first link. Here's the top of page 2. Anyways, you gotta take a late 80's point of view into reference here. Most grocery stores at the time had a relatively dressy uniform compared to what we use now. I mean at Walmart all you need is a blue shirt, and khakis. They don't even make you buy a company uniform. Back then most employees would of had on like a smock, dress shirt and dress pants. The managers, may of even had a jacket on especially if the chain was considered up-scale. From what I can gather at the time Whole Foods was considered about as up-scale as it is now. Thor may have been an Avengers reference.. who knows with hipsters though lol. As for the words, they were probably words that the staff used, but no one else. I can ask my granddad if he remembers them as he was getting into Naturopathy at the time and frequented Whole Foods. Well, Whole Foods was definitely (and pricey), but a lot of the things Whole Foods carried at the time wasn't mainstreamed. You can buy pomegranate juice at H-E-B or Kroger now, you couldn't back then. Same with a lot of organics (it didn't help that grocery stores back then tended to have a much smaller average size, too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Well, Whole Foods was definitely (and pricey), but a lot of the things Whole Foods carried at the time wasn't mainstreamed. You can buy pomegranate juice at H-E-B or Kroger now, you couldn't back then. Same with a lot of organics (it didn't help that grocery stores back then tended to have a much smaller average size, too) Well I would still consider them to be up-scale. A good example would be Veal you know the Art Students working there weren't buying the veal, even if they liked it they would have not been able to afford it. Yet in the article the employee says the stock it because it sells. This was the beginning of the high class "health" food craze. A lady my family knows who's super rich (now lives on a private ranch in the Hill Country) was a big shopper at Whole foods when she lived in West-U. It's a trend that started in California and moved East. And eventually as time passed and health food became more affordable the craze became embraced by upper-middle and middle class folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 Interestingly, Whole Foods isn't a West Coast chain, it is a Texas chain, and the only true Texas headquartered supermarket chain to go into other states AFAIK. (Yes, there was an HEB Pantry in Louisiana, but it closed a while back) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earlydays Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Whole Foods was started in Austin...it chaps the Californians to no end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceGhost Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Interestingly, Whole Foods isn't a West Coast chain, it is a Texas chain, and the only true Texas headquartered supermarket chain to go into other states AFAIK. (Yes, there was an HEB Pantry in Louisiana, but it closed a while back) Yup started as Saferway! Also both Brookshire and Brookshire Brothers operate outside of Texas while their headquarters are in Tyler and Lufkin respectively. Brookshires has locations outside of Texas in Louisiana, Arkansas and had locations in Mississippi until they sold out in 2011. Brookshire Brothers operates in Texas and Louisiana. On the West side of the state there's Lowe's Market. They're headquartered in Littlefield, Texas. They've got locations in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado H-E-B also runs a subsidiary called H-E-B Mexico. While they're technically a separate company they're headquartered in Texas and wholly owned by regular H-E-B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Whole Foods was started in Austin...it chaps the Californians to no end! Practically everyone in Austin now is from California, so it fits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) Practically everyone in Austin now is from California, so it fits. 'Twern't so in the 80s. We were using Whole Paycheck as bait. (**hypnotist voice** - cooooommmme to the granolaaaaaaa...**) Edited May 13, 2015 by mollusk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 'Twern't so in the 80s. We were using Whole Paycheck as bait. (**hypnotist voice** - cooooommmme to the granolaaaaaaa...**) What were we thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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