Whole Foods Vs. Food Coop
Today the Observer runs a story on the impending arrival of Whole Foods and its possible threat to the Park Slope Food Coop. “Whole Foods is more of an ideological challenge to the Park Slope Food Coop, the headquarters of arch-Park Slope living, than it is a threat to business,” states the article, which points…
Today the Observer runs a story on the impending arrival of Whole Foods and its possible threat to the Park Slope Food Coop. “Whole Foods is more of an ideological challenge to the Park Slope Food Coop, the headquarters of arch-Park Slope living, than it is a threat to business,” states the article, which points out the the Coop has a higher profit margin than Whole Foods. Writer and Park Slope resident Amy Sohn vowed not to make the switch from the Coop to Whole Foods, but hoped the Coop members “who wind up on the blacklist” would. She says the people who will enjoy the Whole Foods most “Want to replicate their sort of Mall of America experience in New York City, so they love that you can have a Whole Foods in Brooklyn.” Like it or not, the site will be built: the article reveals an Austin-based construction company will begin work 2011 and will open the store late 2012.
Whole Prudes: Austin Comes to Gowanus [Observer]
Boerumresident: I was told they were not accepting new members. It got ruder from there.
rh: New Paltz, which at that time was on North Front Street between Church and Route 32.
I’m agree with eh, but didn’t want to make my earlier post any longer.
“and you don’t have to be bothered with putting in sweat equity, or getting to know your neighbors or fostering community”.
FYI you don’t need some sort of forced chore regimen in order to get to know your neighbors.
BrownstonerButtBoy – if the shoe fits, wear it.
ClydeFrazier…clever reparte, very clever.
11217 –
The people at the coop are equally happy not to have you as a member.
Daveinbedsty – or I’ll just call you BrownstonerButtBoy –
You’re the douchebag.
It’s a free country. You don’t like the coop? Don’t shop there. Same for Whole Foods. There are plenty of good choices for where to buy food in Brooklyn.
completely agree with insufferable wacko moniker for people who think they are the center of the universe.
It’s not a matter of Brooklyn becoming like the suburbs – the outlying places have become more like New York, too.
When I first came to Clinton Hill in 1971, there were more choices in NY than anywhere I’d ever been. With a a trip to Brooklyn Heights, the Village or Chinatown, you could find fresh vegetables, fresh flowers, a nice butcher, and terrific restaurants. In the hinterlands, you’d be lucky to find a nasty cabbage and a couple of oranges mid-winter. In the many years since, the balance has shifted. It’s easy to find beautiful produce at Wegman’s or at many other local and national grocery chains. It still sucks to shop in Fort Greene or Clinton Hill, though.
While Whole Foods won’t be my entire Brooklyn shopping experience, it will join Fairway, Pathmark, Key Food and Target as places I shop using my car. Until FG/CH has a decent place I can get both arugula AND cat litter, I’ll be using the car.
FWIW, if anyone read Amy Sohn’s “Prospect Park West”, it’s a very revealing slice of how this woman thinks (I know it’s fiction, but she was capable of imagining these horrible people and their shallow thought processes) If there are more people out there thinking like her, I will be glad to shop very, very, far away.
“For the record, @Heather, the coop is a coop and its workers are its shoppers (you have to work shifts) so the comparison to Whole Foods wages is an ignorant statement.”
Actually, the co-op is quite proud of its paid work force, small as they might be. Do your own research, cher.
I truly do not want to hate the coop or Amy Sohn. Why do they make that so hard? Why can’t Amy say sane, reasonable things? Why can’t the co-op just be a place to buy squash? Why can’t Park Slope just be an area in Brooklyn with an annoying hill?
There are two sorts of people who will work for food: Those out of work with a sign around their neck and Park Slopeers who think it’s fashionable but are really just douchebags.