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Economic and environmental impact of Whole Foods?
My neighborhood of Potrero Hill, San Francisco will soon be home to San Francisco's largest Whole Foods.
• What impact, if any, will this have on the surrounding neighborhood, as well as mom and pop stores?
• Will the value of commercial real estate increase in the surrounding areas?
• Will this impact parking and traffic? (They've allotted 100 parking for Whole Foods customers)
Both first hand observations or hard data would be great.
Good Answers (3)
Stewart U
Management Consultant and Entrepreneur
Best Answers in: Commercial Real Estate (1), Packaging and Labeling (1), Market Research and Definition (1)
The Washington Post ran a story about this very question last summer, which included this passage:
"Homeowners, real estate brokers and builders see the natural foods powerhouse not just as a grocery but also as an engine for development. In Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood, a Whole Foods is credited with triggering a revival. In Sarasota, Fla., developers say they pre-sold all 95 apartments in a condominium tower because a Whole Foods opened on the first floor. And in Washington, many trace the revival of Logan Circle and the 14th Street corridor to the opening in 2000 of a Whole Foods on P Street NW."
Links:
- mom and pop stores can survive, but Whole Paycheck will take most of the market.
- real estate value should improve overall, they're magnets for people looking for live a greener life.
- parking and traffic will get worse, but SF isn't going to approve a project without plenty of studies and mitigation projects. there's data on this one, see link.
Links:
I lived just a block away from the one on California and Franklin. There was an increase in traffic (I was there a year before they opened) but it's hard to tell as it's a busy area anyway. About two years after they opened the "Red Apple" market on Polk closed - this was the local grocery store nearby. I think traffic and parking will be the biggest drag on the community with out knowing who the incumbent competitors are.
More Answers (3)
I'm concerned that the Good Life is gonna lose a lot of business..... beyond them I think the impact will be minimal to me (18th & Texas).
I agree with Josh Dorf - I hope it doesn't "do in" Good Life. I will still shop at Good Life for "small batch runs" like I do now. Having Whole Foods in the same proximity won't change that. The same reason I don't go into Safeway will keep me from popping into Whole Foods.