SouthPark still waiting

Turns out Elizabeth isn't the only neighborhood having a hard time landing Whole Foods. Even with its tony demographics, SouthPark is finding Whole Foods a little on the persnickety side. The Observer reports that construction on the site won't start until 2010, and you know these things don't tend to get early starts.

The article says Whole Foods is considering additional locations in Charlotte, one of the three largest metro areas in the country without a Whole Foods. My guess is one additional location won't be Elizabeth -- despite the best efforts of Elizabethan Beth Haenni -- because by the time they make up their minds, we'll have been won over by Trader Joe's, Fresh Markets, Earth Fares and who-knows-what-all stores.

Plenty of free parking

No one hates to pay for parking more than I do. But sometimes I wonder if we only encourage our dependence on the automobile (and therefore foreign oil) by offering plenty of free parking everywhere. I thought of this today while wondering what on earth the developers of the nearby Home Depot/Target project were thinking when they put the parking garage out front and the stores behind it. Were they afraid people wouldn't find the garage if they hid it behind the store where it belongs? Home Depot and Target stores aren't known for their tremendous curb appeal, but anything would be better than a parking garage -- even if this one is better than average -- and having the store at the front might encourage walk-ups.

Contrast that Midtown development with the construction on the Central Avenue side of the Hawthorne Lane bridge. I guess the huge concrete monolith is a parking garage, and by all appearances the condominiums will be wrapped around it. Result: We'll see the places where people live, not the places where cars live. Doesn't that make sense?

Yo Joe

As readers of UtWT comments know, quirky grocer Trader Joe's is coming to the Metropolitan development in Midtown. What does that mean for Grubb's Elizabeth Avenue project? Does the nearby presence of Target, Home Depot and Trader Joe's mean lesser tenants for us? Metropolitan has a jump on Elizabeth Avenue, and it appears Grubb is having trouble luring big names. But does a dominant Metropolitan hurt Elizabeth Avenue's chances? I don't necessarily think so, although it does seem to imply that Grubb needs to get busy. There's still lots of buying power around here and the area is under-served from a retail standpoint. Let's see what happens.

OMG! Target! OMG!

Mysterious red balls in a parking garage on the edge of our 'hood? Could it be? It is! Target is open! I can confirm because my family's pocketbook is nearly $200 lighter today after being taken in by the shiny merchandise and the friendly employees at the store above the Home Depot, which doesn't appear to be ready for customers yet. I know a lot of people have been waiting a long time for this type of retail within walking distance. Who among us will be the first to get on a first-name basis with the clerks?

Peachy market

Possibly the best peach I've had this summer was bought at the Charlotte Tailgate Farmer's Market on Commonwealth. Large and juicy, it peeled easily and tasted of sweetness and sunshine. I may head over there on Tuesday to see if they have any more left.

No comment from Fresh Market

The official word from the Fresh Market's PR people on a store in Elizabeth is: "no comment at this time." If anyone hears anything please let me know.

Fresh Market instead of Whole Foods?

Rumor has it that Whole Foods is out and Fresh Market perhaps is in for the Grubb Properties grocery store in the Elizabeth development. Anyone know anything more?

Whole Foods CEO not anonymous

The latest news from the Whole Foods front is discouraging, although it has nothing to do with the company's Charlotte locations. Apparently Whole Foods CEO John Mackey thought he was anonymous online and used Yahoo message boards to "assail competition and promote his supermarket chain’s stock," the New York Times (login required) reports. You know it's bad if the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into your sock-puppetry.

This report does nothing to burnish the reputation of Whole Foods. When taken together with the recent realization that Elizabethans who have emailed Whole Foods won't be getting a personal reply as promised, well you start to wonder if Whole Foods is a special outfit or just another big company.

Whole Foods roundup

Back from vacation. Time to catch up on the Whole Foods beat:

• I hope you enjoyed the Observer article "Fighting for 1st Whole Foods" on June 9. In it, a UNCC marketing professor agreed with me that the SouthPark location makes more sense for Whole Foods's first foray into Charlotte, but was more hopeful about letter-writing campaigns than I was. A Whole Foods spokesman said the company plans to answer every email. So let's hear it: Who emailed Whole Foods? If not, why not? Did you get a reply? What did they say? Comments please!
• Meanwhile, let's hope that when Whole Foods does come to Elizabeth, they adopt the single-line, bank-style (registration required) of check-out "queue management." "By 7 p.m. on a weeknight, the lines at each of the four Whole Foods stores in Manhattan can be 50 deep, but they zip along faster than most lines with 10 shoppers," the New York Times reports. We may be more gracious than some New Yorkers when it comes to waiting in line, but that doesn't mean we have to like it. If only our own Harris Teeter had room for such an improvement.
  

Movie Tavern on Elizabeth

Lost in my pitiful mewling about the Whole Foods loss was the news of the really cool Movie Tavern, part of a 70,000-square-foot entertainment complex on Elizabeth Avenue. Movie Tavern "combines first-run movies with a casual dining menu offering a wide range of choices that include half-pound burgers, homemade pizzas, chicken sandwiches, wings and fries, appetizers, fresh salads, beer, wine, and mixed beverages," according to its Web site. We're talking six screens, first-run movies, "art house films" -- and a bar. I'm there. Anyone from Texas familiar with Movie Tavern? The Observer reports a late 2008 or early 2009 theater opening.

Developer Grubb Properties says after Movie Tavern, the rest of the $300 million development "is being designed for a collection of boutiques along Elizabeth Avenue, two terrace level restaurants overlooking a central plaza and a 15,000 square foot club." Sweet.

Can email campaign save our Whole Foods?

Some folks have started a Whole Foods email campaign, trying to get them to reconsider starting a SouthPark store before an Elizabeth store. Here's some suggested text:

Whole Foods belongs on Elizabeth Avenue in Charlotte!

There's no sense in beating around the bush. As a neighbor of the exciting Elizabeth Avenue project, I can tell you that there's no better place in Charlotte for your store, and there are thousands of people like me who are waiting anxiously for Whole Foods to open.

As you might expect, then, we are extremely disappointed to hear that plans for this location are now "on hold."

Most of the people here in Elizabeth, Myers Park, Eastover, Uptown, and Plaza Midwood are familiar with your stores in the Triangle area, Atlanta, even Charleston and metro DC. We're big fans, and we'll be big shoppers. Why?

* Because we love to shop right here, and we don't like fighting the congestion in places like South Park and Ballantyne.
* Because a store at the intersection of Elizabeth Avenue, Hawthorne Avenue and 4th Street is right on our way to work - and home - and to most of the places we love in Charlotte.
* And because these are communities that are incredibly supportive of our "own" merchants.

At Elizabeth Avenue, you'll not only be the best option for Charlotte's urban condominium market and its numerous historical close-in neighborhoods, you'll be the only convenient option. So you can expect a much higher share of our grocery dollars than you'd ever get in a more competitive
location like South Park.

We hope the news we're hearing about Whole Foods in Charlotte is wrong and that you'll soon be announcing plans to accelerate the opening of your store in Elizabeth. It's the right place, and the best place, for you to be.

The folks to email are CEO John Mackey (John.Mackey@wholefoods.com), South Region President Scott Allshouse (scott.allshouse@wholefoods.com) and VP for Real Estate Norah Smith (norah.smith@wholefoods.com). Note the email pattern. Assuming it holds, you can probably figure out a few more people to email from this list.

While an email campaign probably can't hurt, I have to say I'm dubious. I have my doubts about the effectiveness of email campaigns to begin with. But more importantly, I think the SouthPark store is a done deal. No way Whole Foods can concede the SouthPark market to competitor Earth Fare, whose SouthPark store is scheduled to open in November. If you're Whole Foods and you're comparing the two locations, it's pretty clear that Elizabeth can wait and SouthPark can't -- as much as I hate to say that. But maybe we should all email them anyway, just to make sure they don't change their minds and never come to Elizabeth.

Street car delay's first loss: Whole Foods

It's probably not completely accurate to blame the loss of the Elizabeth Whole Foods store on the inane decision to put off work until 2013 work on the center city street car line. But certainly it played some role in the decision making. "Both Whole Foods and Grubb were disappointed the planned streetcar line connecting uptown to Central Avenue was delayed recently," the Observer reported.

Look at the area immediately surrounding the proposed Whole Foods site in Elizabeth. Then look at the area immediately surrounding Sharon and Colony roads, where the SouthPark Whole Foods will go. I'm partial to my neighborhood, but let's face it. If you're a developer and you take some Whole Foods honchos to Elizabeth and Hawthorne and tell them to put a store there, you're selling the future. And up until recently you were able to throw in the street car to sweeten that future. Now take those same Whole Foods honchos to Sharon and Colony. You don't have to imagine a bright future for SouthPark -- it's already there.