(Read the comments below. This was an April Fool's post in 2010, but there were 2011 reports that Whole Foods was actually negotiating to open a Columbia store in the former Rouse Company headquarters. Then a real Whole Foods opening in 2014.)
Whole Foods will open in the vacant space that dominates the Costco / Best Buy shopping center on Rte 175 as early as the end of 2010, according to the WPost's local business column. That is officially Elkridge, but the WPost article and the Whole Foods press release are calling it "Columbia."
The prime retail space sat empty for three years because a sporting goods company signed a lease, but decided not to expand, as Tales of Two Cities has reported since last year. Now, Whole Foods will take over the location, and it can open in as few as six months because the space -- as you can see on Wordbones' post -- is complete but completely unobstructed. I assume Whole Foods is trying to beat Wegman's to the punch because those folks are building from scratch and may not open until 2012.
Personally, my first trip to the Columbia Whole Foods will be for cheese. The photo above is the Silver Spring store. What will you shop for when this is true?
Seriously, read the comments below. This was the 2010 Aprils Fool joke. If you're interested in real news and posts about Howard County food, please do check the HowChow homepage or become a fan on Facebook.
I never go to Whole Foods but I might start-- but that's also the same shopping center as Trader Joe's. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteSO excited that Columbia will be getting a Whole Foods. That means we'll have Trader Joes, Costco, Wegmans, and now Whole Foods within a few miles of each other. Foodie heaven!
ReplyDeleteOn second thought-- April Fools?
ReplyDeleteThat shopping center is now PERFECT! Costco, trader joes, and whole foods in one stop.
ReplyDeleteThis just made my morning...Hello halloumi cheese, hello Boston popcorn. Goodbye trips to Annapolis every time I need a foodie fix!!
ReplyDeleteThis has to be an april fool's joke. The link to the WaPo just goes to their biz section and there's no press release to speak of on WF's site.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you joke about such a sensitive subject?
great news! Cant wait to go there for lunch.
ReplyDeleteThis better not be an April Fool's joke. I am over the top about this prospect. I have a lot of difficulties finding meat I can purchase that's humanely raised and slaughtered, and Whole Foods sells a lot of that. Plus their produce selection is AMAZING. This would be great if it's true!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha! This is def an April Fools joke! You've got all the yuppies freaking out! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteanonymous said: "I have a lot of difficulties finding meat I can purchase that's humanely raised and slaughtered, and Whole Foods sells a lot of that."
ReplyDeleteYou sure about that?
People would be shocked to know how few slaughterhouses there really are...and most of those are major operations where often a farmer cannot even be sure the meat they get back is from the cow they brought in, if they can even get their cows into the slaughterhouse when they are ready. --K
We had platers from Whole Foods at our post wedding brunch. The roast beef was incredible, the hummus was heaven and the brownies take you on a mini vacation. What won't I be having?!
ReplyDeleteOh, you got me. Thanks for getting my hopes up.
ReplyDeleteYou people are such fools. Literally.
ReplyDeleteLast line should have been a big tip off. "What will you shop for when this is true?" i.e. This post is currently false.
ReplyDeleteBest spoof story yet, and hoping that the real Aprils Fool joke is that this isn't an April Fools joke.
Nice!! You had me till I read the comments!
ReplyDeleteThe "humanely...slaughtered" comment was pretty funny, also. What would that be, lethal injection?
Please tell us that this is true! We need a Whole Foods, a Container Store, and either a Crate and Barrel or a Pottery Barn to make Howard County perfect!
ReplyDeleteSuzy -- So sorry! But I love your list. We need to teleport the shopping center with the Rockville Container Store -- Container Store, Whole Foods, Lebanese Taverna, Robeks, and a few other casual food places. We certainly have some farm fields to set it down!
ReplyDeleteHowChow- there's a seat in Hell with your name on it :)
ReplyDeleteThat absolutely sucks :(
ReplyDeleteI was even closer to that than I am to the Wegmans site.
How could you toy with your followers' emotions like that???????
howchow,
ReplyDeleteYou and freemarket get the local blogger April's Fools award!
Thanks to your links on this joke my visits have been going through the roof today.
Nicely done!
-wb
Hahha...I was going to say, a Whole Foods would spell DOOM to MOMs down the road and David's Natural Market!
ReplyDeleteI FELL FOR IT!! ugh. Howchow is cruel.
ReplyDeleteI'd really hope that they wouldn't put a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's in the same shopping center. I'm glad this is a 4/1 post.
ReplyDeleteThen again, this touches on two of my favorite dead horses to beat: the horrible layout of Gateway Crossing (forget trying to get to Best Buy et al. if you come in off of Marie Cure Drive, as making a left within the shopping center requires a traffic light of its own!) and redundancy of stores within a small area (although admittedly Gateway Crossing's Costco and Loews has made going to BJs and Home Depot in Snowden Square much less painful).
~kam
My first thought was to wonder whether Whole Foods has a corporate policy of only choosing locations with terrible parking lots. In that sense, this location would be consistent with other Whole Foods stores in the area.
ReplyDeleteSorry there won't be a Whole Foods, but glad that it won't be there.
Of all the April Fool's jokes I have seen today, this was the one I most hoped was really true!
ReplyDeleteThis is the April Fools post that's second on my list of "oh, if only this were real". #1 is the iCade from ThinkGeek!
ReplyDeleteI used to work two blocks from the Georgetown WF, and really miss shopping there. Typical of WF, the parking garage was wretched, so having one an easy stroll from the office was a joy. Mmm, cheese. I can't cope with the parking at the Silver Spring store, Rockville isn't too hideous, and Clarendon's parking lot is a whole new level of hell.
If we're teleporting shopping centers in Rockville and fantasizing, can we have a Penzey's too?
ReplyDelete