"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
>A woman sent an email to the Dataw listserv. Subject: Whole Foods to Open
>in August! She was all excited.
>
> I read the email. She's excited because she won't have to drive to Mt.
> Pleasant, SC anymore. Mt. Pleasant is at least 100 miles away. Now
> she'll only have to drive about 50 miles to Savannah, GA!
>
> Would you drive that far just to shop at a Whole Foods? Or any specific
> store, for that matter?
>
> I would need more than that one reason to make the trip. 
>
> Jill
We have had to go that far or further to a military commissary when they
shut the Oakland Army base. In those days, making the trip once a month or
so was worth it to me. I didn't save on everything but I could certainly
save on a lot of things like cheese. And I could get inexpensive kid's
clothes for Angela but I soon learned that they weren't worth it. They were
made of that kind of cotton that might either shrink or stretch after it was
washed and dried. Was the Ponytails brand. But they also sold designer
clothing for good prices (for designer stuff that is). Angela didn't wear
that kind of stuff unless I could get it on clearance but my one SIL would
only dress her kids in such things. So I could get them gifts there. And I
could get really nice Easter and Christmas dresses for around $10 or less.
It was also a good place to buy perfume and other pricey gift items. And
seasonal stuff like Christmas wrap I really did save a lot of money by
shopping there.
But Whole Foods? A store where most of what they sell is overpriced to
begin with? No. I will not go out of my way to go there and luckily I
don't have to. We have PCC and Central Market, both of which are similar
and both of which have better prices. Whole Foods does sell other things
like Tom's. And we do go there about every 3-4 weeks but we buy very
little. We were there today and what we bought was only about a half a bag
of stuff. And it was almost $40! They did have a good price on grapes and
they and the other two stores I mentioned have by far the best wheat grass
which is one reason we went there. We were also near there though. I would
not have driven out there just for that. But we had to go to another store
that was a few blocks away. So we stopped on the way home.
Now perhaps if I had never been to a Whole Foods and had nothing similar, I
might go out of curiosity but... I tend not to go to any one place unless I
have to. I always plan to go to as many places as I might possibly need to
go in any given area. So I would put off such a trip until I did need to go
other places along the way.
I can remember someone here urging me to go to Whole Foods. At that time
the closest ones were in Bellevue and Seattle. But I have Central Market
just up the street and from everything I had read, they were very similar.
The difference being, I think, that Central Market also sells some
mainstream things like Lay's chips, Coke and other soft drinks, and they
carry the Western Family brand of foods, paper goods and cleaning products.
They are inexpensive and everything I've tried of that brand is very good.
So to me that's the best of both worlds. I can get organic, and I can also
get cheap or mainstream.
The first time we did go to Whole Foods was in Bellevue. It was just sort
of a fluke thing. Angela had been scheduled for an MRI and the machine
broke so they sent us to Children's in Bellevue. We spotted the Whole Foods
on the way there and begged to stop. We bought a couple of bags of stuff
and were sorely disappointed in pretty much everything we bought there. The
salad and hot food bar stuff was not tasty. The very expensive gluten free
bread that we bought was moldy. We could not see that due to the way it was
packaged.
But when they opened the store in Lynnwood, we did give it a shot. They do
have some things that I can't get anywhere else but online. Like the chia
cheese. And they have vegan donuts! Although the quality of them really
does vary. I'll get one and really like it, then the next time get one and
won't like it at all. Got an apple fritter once and never encountered an
apple at all. It just seemed like greasy dough. But then the next time I
got one, it was excellent! And no, I do not eat the whole thing at once. I
cut a piece off and stick the rest in the freezer. Angela and my mom do the
same. So something like that lasts us a long time.