Once the Bill Cox Cadillac Dealership- Now the New Whole Foods
For the last two years I have been patiently waiting for Whole Foods Oakland...and drum roll please, it has arrived! Last Sunday morning I headed over for the grand tour.
I skipped the downstairs parking lot and parked in the upstairs lot where I immediately found a great park and stepped in to heaven. (If you didn't know, I am a big foodie, I graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco)
This is the best looking Whole Foods I've seen. It mimics a French marketplace with many specialty shops within the grocery store; cheese, meat, seafood, produce, chocolate, coffee and espresso, extensive beauty products, gelato, hot prepared foods and a Bistro.
So the bottom line is this, Whole Foods Oakland will increase the value of residential property surrounding it. Now all of the homes below Piedmont Avenue and around Lake Merritt will have a full service grocery store within walking distance. Prior to Whole Foods Oakland, homeowners had to drive to the Grand Ave. Safeway,(a store that borders the City of Piedmont) or the Safeway on 51st Street in Oakland for the closest stores. One of the biggest draws of living by Lake Merritt is the its easy access to downtown, BART and transportation. Now homeowners can actually live car-free.
My hope is that Whole Foods Oakland will be a huge economic success, enticing other big businesses to follow suit and set up shop here in Oakland.
With all of the residential and condo growth, Oakland needs the retail presence to balance.
Shop in a spacious and clean store
Bring home hot and healthy prepared foods
Don't forget dessert.
Cafe Allegro
Extensive meat department, featuring beef from "green" ranchers
Handmade Chocolates both local and imported
Irresistible
