Friday, August 10, 2012

Whole Foods Second Avenue 57th Street Store Opening Near Roosevelt Island Tram On August 23 - Will You Shop There?


Reported in February 2010:
... Whole Foods signed on as the anchor retail tenant for a new mixed use development project to be located only minutes from the Roosevelt Island Tram Manhattan Station on 2nd Avenue and 57th Street....
 Image of Second Avenue 57 Street Whole Foods Opening on August 23

A reader tipped me off to Whole Foods announcing on its Facebook page that it will be opening its Second Avenue and 57th street store later this month. According to Whole Foods:
Excited to be joining the Midtown East community - opening our new E57th St store on August 23!
Being so close to the Roosevelt Island Manhattan Tram Station, will that make it more likely for you to shop at the 2nd Avenue 57th Street Whole Foods rather than using current grocery options such as Fresh Direct, Gristedes, M&D Deli, Food Emporium or stores in Queens? There will also be a new organic grocer (Wholesome Direct) opening on Roosevelt Island's Main Street - how will the new Fresh Direct impact that business?

Among the many great items sold by Whole Foods will be Sigmunds Pretzels


Hope that includes the sandwich pretzel rolls.

UPDATE 12 PM - Whole Foods answers:
Initial response by Roosevelt Island residents:
Damn Straight I will... I would rather shop there, pay higher prices and buy higher quality products compared to Gristedes. and shooping at a cleaner store will be nice..
and:
see you there!!!
and:
For Sure!!
and:
I was so thrilled to see that a new Whole Foods was opening at that location...but then saw it was opening after I was supposed to move out of New York altogether. If I still lived on R.I., I would be making a weekly trip there for sure!  
I think Roosevelt Islanders will be making plenty of trips to the Second Avenue 57th Street Whole Foods.

14 comments :

Westviewer said...

I hope I will find Wholesome Direct, right on the island,  satisfactory, but if it isn't, I'm glad that I'll have a Whole Foods nearby.  I have a mixed opinion of Whole Foods.  Their prices are all over the place -- sometimes lower, sometimes higher than you'd expect, without any predictability.  I'm usually disappointed in the fruit.  Meat and poultry have been good, fish is sometimes pretty good, although not up to the quality of Citarella.   I like the grind-it-yourself peanut butter, the maple syrup, the dairy selection and some of the breads.   In the early days, the charcuterie was very good, but they have stopped stocking the more special items and brands and are offering more of what you can already get at Gristede's.   The Houston St. store, when it opened, had a wonderful cheese cave, but that has been closed and replaced by pickles.  The cheese selection is good, but the cheeses are often sold under or overripe.  

Because of their alleged commitment to organic natural foods (by their own, very flexible definition) there are sometimes simple items missing from the shelves.  All my complaints aside, it's far, far better than Gristede's, in every way, of course. 




Don't

CheshireKitty said...

Yeah, Whole Foods is great - maybe too great since it seems to entice money out of one's pockets.  I shop the specials mostly - since I also consume less than most people overall, it's not a complete financial blow-out shopping there.  Nobody can touch them for their produce section.  I still think Costco is best for (OK - the non-snob variety) cheese, and even though I don't eat meat, I have heard Costco meat is pretty much the same highest-quality meat served at restaurants.  If you nab the specials at Whole Foods and restrain/limit your purchases of everything else, you do OK.  I sincerely hope Whole Foods expands and gives a competitive kick in the pants to Gristedes to improve!  

bakgwailo said...

 LOL, I agree - we can't shop at whole foods anymore as it seems like any time we go there we leave with two small bags and a 200 dollar bill. I do admit though, there beer selection is second to none. However, for things like good cheddar cheeses, Costco is way better - a small sliver of 1-2 year old Cabot is about 10+ bucks at Whole foods, but an entire 1+ lbs 3 year old block at Costco is the same price. On top of that, we have found FreshDirect to have the same quality and much lower prices for organic/fresh/local stuff, plus they deliver for free saving the hassle of the Tram/subway with groceries.

All that said, I am not holding my breath for Gristedes to get any better at all - I have noticed that Costco/FreshDirect/Whole Foods aside, supermarkets here in NYC are pretty dire overall compared to back home in Boston ;)

bakgwailo said...

BTW, aside for the awesome super sharp Cabot cheddar cheese, Costco also has legitimate Parmigiano Reggiano and real fresh Mozeralla (sealed and stamped from Italy) along with a host of other great cheeses - not sure if it is 'snob' quality, but it is all 100% authentic and great ;)

bakgwailo said...

 BTW, aside for the awesome super sharp Cabot cheddar cheese, Costco also
has legitimate Parmigiano Reggiano and real fresh Mozeralla (sealed and
stamped from Italy) along with a host of other great cheeses - not sure
if it is 'snob' quality, but it is all 100% authentic and great ;)

bakgwailo said...

 BTW, aside for the awesome super sharp Cabot cheddar cheese, Costco also
has legitimate Parmigiano Reggiano and real fresh Mozeralla (sealed and
stamped from Italy) along with a host of other great cheeses - not sure
if it is 'snob' quality, but it is all 100% authentic and great ;)

Michelle MMorgan said...

As if groceries weren't expensive enough on Roosevelt Island??  No thanks.  I will be walking to Trade Fair in Queens.

GlenwoodNYC said...

We were delighted to drop by for the opening of Whole Foods in Midtown East! For Roosevelt Islanders, this location is only a short tram ride away. Do you ever think that the island will get one for themselves?

CheshireKitty said...

Unlikely - but you never know, especially with Cornell-Technion university in the works.. they'll be about 2,000 more people on RI..

"Us and Them" said...

I finally don't have to carry food from Union Square all the home anymore:) yey!

"Us and Them" said...

WF is WAY cheaper than Gristedes, take a look at cheese and milk and strawberries for example.

residential said...

The only way that can happen is if enough people refrain from using Gristedes and Mr. Catsimatidis gets the hint and pulls out.

GlenwoodNYC said...

Good point, Cheshire. The campus will increase the population drastically on Roosevelt Island.

BrandonHarris said...

Hi! Are you mostly an active online visitor or maybe you are more into offline ways of communication?