September 8, 2009

Photo: Whole Foods Countdown


Vaulted ceiling, natural finishes, good light ... quite an improvement.

[NVSF: Bell Market: Winding Down]

21 comments:

susanne said...

now THIS is exciting!

Anonymous said...

I'm worried. Looking at the size of the deli, will they ever find space for actual groceries?

The other mega worry is the 4 baskets checkouts. I need two of their nano shopping carts for a week of food and I hope they have not decided to discriminate against grocery shoppers (like California street not to mention it). How many REAL checkouts will there be? reals ones with a belt big enough to unload half a nanoscopic cart?

Anonymous said...

I welcome it and I dread it. Not like Noe Valley hasn't been creeping along these lines for the past 30 years, but - yuppiedom here we come!

Anonymous said...

I realize that it could just be the angle of the photo but it looks so small.

Anonymous said...

That looks like a hot food bar and salad bar in the background. *swoon* I'm not eating anywhere else the first week.

Anonymous said...

Any one notice the nice La Marzocco espresso machine on the right? That'll be nice....
It's difficult to get a quality coffee in the Noe, unless you like burnt coffee from Martha's, made by rude inexperienced baristas.

Anonymous said...

Thank god we're finally getting a good grocery store, and with an interior that is fresh and clean. The old Bell market was like walking into a grocery store in some back woods town in Minnesota from the 50's...not much different from a Wal Mart, actually.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for spitting on an old neighborhood institution. Comparing Bell simultaneously to a 50's Minnesota grocery store and Walmart simultaneously really gave us a sense of accuracy of comparison. I know Bell wasn't the nicest supermarket, but let's not bring Garrison Keillor into this.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, never say anything bad about any place that's been around for a while! Change is inherently bad! Who cares if the clerks at Bell were outright rude and the food looked like it had been sitting in the truck a few days! It was part of the neighborhood, man!

Anonymous said...

Bell Market was just gross and the clerks were rude. Good riddance.

Unknown said...

I'm looking forward to this new market, but hey, what's with trashing Martha's? These are some of the friendliest people ever to serve me a cup of coffee! I happen to like their coffee, but everyone has their own taste. Whole Foods is a welcome addition to my hood! but remember your wonderful local merchants like the Cheese Shop, Drews Butcher shop, Martha's etc! They all make for a vibrant community!

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know what Whole Foods hours will be?

murphstahoe said...

Seen on Twitter...

Miracle on 24th Street: Just as Whole Foods finishes up their move-in to the old Bell Market, Real Foods starts renovation across street.

????

Anonymous said...

Bernie's is way better than martha bro's. Bell was fine, but WF will be better. Price premium, sure. But their prepared foods are awesome.

Anonymous said...

price premium?

WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU????

do you prefer the 3.49 half gallon milk from bell? or the same half gallon from whole food at only 1.49?

anybody who will not SAVE money at whole food, compared to bell, is either wasting money on purpose (nobody forces you to buy the $30/lbs special funky cheese when you can choose decent options at =safeway prices), or does not have a spending budget, tracked to the cent.

I liked Bell. but I couldn't afford shopping there. Let's bring the 365 items!

Anonymous said...

"Does anyone know what Whole Foods hours will be?"

all WF are between 8am-10pm at most. So we'll have one of 8-9, 9-9. 9-10, something like that, daily.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I grew up going to Bell. The last years maybe weren't so hot, but you know they kept this neighborhood fed for years and years. I'm sorry if it didn't jibe with your Marin or Pac Heights sensibilities, but a few of us natives actually have decent memories of that place. And Bell at least kept late hours. Whole Paycheck is only staying open until 9 or 10.

And to the dude who said something about "do you prefer the 3.49 half gallon milk from bell? or the same half gallon from whole food at only 1.49" - hey, Bell had price markdowns, too. Whole Foods didn't exactly invent the idea, although I'm sure they'd love to take any and all credit. Or maybe the dude had WF confused with Trader Joe's.

I'm sure I'll shop at WF, after all it's convenient and I've already reinvented myself as a Noe Valley yuppie putz. I'm just not into drinking this Texas kool-aid straight. Let them prove themselves to our neighborhood before we start crowing about how great they are.

Anonymous said...

I can hardly wait to block the aisles in this joint whilst I smell my own gaseous aroma and berate the hired help for not having my fav jamon iberico petit fours. Eff-you I'll sigh as I trundle off to colonic therapy and Barney's (not Co-Op thank you)....hyacinthia pitco 23rd street maven of the arts

Anonymous said...

Other than the "I liked Bell" part, agree 100% with the rest of this comment:

"I liked Bell. but I couldn't afford shopping there. Let's bring the 365 items!"

I have never been so excited about a store opening in my life!

Godot said...

Uh folks, it's just a store. Calm down.

What I want to know is where they come up with the word verification words...now THAT'S exciting.

Anonymous said...

Counting the days until Whole Foods and the new French Bakery (whose name I can't remember) opens!
Finally more than one mediocre place for fresh baked good!