Whole Foods Gowanus May Not Be Dead After All
Check out the response from Whole Foods to the Brooklyn Paper’s story this week…apparently the high-end grocery chain has not definitely wiped its hands of it. Click here for prior Brownstoner coverage and click through for the memo… TO: Craig Hammerman FROM: Mark Mobley Whole Foods Market DATE: July 10, 2009 RE: Update on Whole…
Check out the response from Whole Foods to the Brooklyn Paper’s story this week…apparently the high-end grocery chain has not definitely wiped its hands of it. Click here for prior Brownstoner coverage and click through for the memo…
TO: Craig Hammerman
FROM: Mark Mobley
Whole Foods Market
DATE: July 10, 2009
RE: Update on Whole Foods Market’s plan in Brooklyn – “Reports
of our demise have been greatly exaggerated”
I am writing with just a quick update to let you know that recent reports
of Whole Foods Market’s demise in Brooklyn seem to have been greatly
exaggerated! As you may have seen, the Brooklyn Paper published a story
this week that inaccurately suggests we have definitively decided not to
pursue the development of a store on our property at 3rd Street and 3rd
Avenue and further that we are planning to sell the property. This is
simply not true and we have sent a letter to the Brooklyn Paper editor
clarifying our position and requesting a correction.
You may recall that last Fall I sent you a memo explaining that Whole
Foods Market had begun re-evaluating our plans for our property and that
we would be working to identify potential development partners for a
Brooklyn store. That is exactly what we have been doing in recent months
and we are continuing these efforts in hopes of arriving at a potential
development scenario that will enable us to finally come to Brooklyn .
Therefore, while nothing has yet been finalized and we are still not in a
position to be able to share any additional information, please be assured
that we will be back in touch as soon as we are able to provide more
details about our plans.
> progressing towards plans…
In other words, the project is dead, dead, dead in the water.
If WF is still talking about opening at this location, then what’s the deal with 470 Vanderbilt (@Fulton)? That location is so much more centrally located and near all the Atlantic/Pacific subways whereas the Gowanus location is going to compete with Fairway for all those who have access to a car.
So, WHOLE PAYCHECK is coming to Brooklyn to pry our wages out and send ’em to corporate headquarters. Why don’t some enterprising individual(s) set up shop here in Brooklyn and use the skill and ingenuity of local New York State (and City!) organic farmers where possible, and sell good food that is not the rip-off that Whole Foods certainly is (not that their products are not good). This would keep profits local and also help the environment by keeping Whole Foods’ trucks hauling cross country (and crosstown).
Whole Foods is coming! Hurray! I’m hungry now.
Oh, they are coming in an unspecified amount of time. . . .
I’ll go to Trader Joe’s.
The truth is that a Times Square Stores is hooking up with a John’s Bargain Store as well as a Bargaintowm USA. Better yet, Fortunoffs, Kleins, and Alexanders are looking into some commercial lots as well. For the hungry shopper, an Automat will be opening. Ah, the streets of New York are littered with the retail carcasses of yesterday. Whole Foods – join the rest.
Here is what the WFM actually means in their statement:
“We are very eager to bring our overpriced products to Brooklyn and to suck your money out of your pocket and destroy all the small local stores that have been in the neighborhood for decades and profit from all of this as we usually do, but do you really think we are crazy enough to invest millions into an area that is to be potentially declared a Superfund site soon?”
yep Korvettes made a basic error on how it leased the property because the owners Arlen realty took money out based on these leases(because of a down market in NY realty). There is a whole book about what happened to Korvettes. Retail is a tough business. It seems that about every 25-30 years we go through the same cycle again. So at some time in the future the whole lending market will be changed again….The down cycle tends to last about 5 years…
“oh BTW how I know this I was VP for Admin and real estate at Korvettes department stores…..”
And we know what happened to Korvettes, right?
🙂
They did have a helluva music dept tho.
Ikea did this themselves in RedHook and Fairway used its creditworthiness before the market changes…
oh BTW how I know this I was VP for Admin and real estate at Korvettes department stores…..