1568 replies to this topic

[Trough]

Well, looks like there will be a Whole Foods in Rogers after all......in addition to the Fresh Market:

http://www.facebook....&type=1

and https://twitter.com/...017871445172225

https://twitter.com/...015874864185344

https://twitter.com/...015522706227200

Edited by Trough, 21 February 2012 - 12:01 PM.

[krt479]

I am officially a happy camper!

[comreguy]

krt479, on 21 February 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

I am officially a happy camper!

I'm not sure how accurate this information is. While there have been rumors of a Whole Foods, all the info from people I've spoken with within their organization indicate that the deal they were pursuing has fallen through and Fresh Market opening will keep them out for a while.

[Trough]

Yeah, I agree. Opening a Fresh Market and a Whole Foods in the same location is a long shot.

Whole Foods tweeted to the Flyer that there has been no announcement, while they tweeted earlier that it was announced in a conference call. Seems like the Whole Foods tweeter was confused about the initial question, said "yes" thinking that the question was about a location in Texas instead of AR.

https://twitter.com/...035105265680384

But is it possible that Fresh Market would need to order 17.66 tons of concrete for their renovation of the Borders location? I have no clue. Would Heavy Construction of NWA have the wrong business name in their system?

[comreguy]

Trough, on 21 February 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

Yeah, I agree. Opening a Fresh Market and a Whole Foods in the same location is a long shot.

Whole Foods tweeted to the Flyer that there has been no announcement, while they tweeted earlier that it was announced in a conference call. Seems like the Whole Foods tweeter was confused about the initial question, said "yes" thinking that the question was about a location in Texas instead of AR.

https://twitter.com/...035105265680384

But is it possible that Fresh Market would need to order 17.66 tons of concrete for their renovation of the Borders location? I have no clue. Would Heavy Construction of NWA have the wrong business name in their system?

I haven't seen the info on the concrete or on Heavy Construction of NWA, but I have direct knowledge of Whole Foods' interest in the market and they aren't coming right now. They are interested in the market and they have toured looking for sites in the past year. But, they are on hold and focusing on other markets, especially now that Fresh Market has established a premier location.

Sorry to be bearer of bad news. I certainly hoped the rumors of Whole Foods would be true.

[Trough]

[thewizard16]

They tweeted no such announcement was made, but that could just mean it's not "official" yet. Someone conjectured they were more willing to welcome them in NWA than Little Rock (I doubt that honestly, the Little Rock location is always busy and Fresh Market does a good business too. Comparably welcoming maybe, but more so?), but Whole Foods isn't willing to say that they're opening anything new in AR right now. Honestly, I don't understand why they'd want to put both in Rogers- I would think one in Rogers and one in Fayetteville (although that might be bad news for ONF) would make more sense from a population and target market perspective.

Here is Whole Foods tweet from an hour ago:
Whole Foods Market @WholeFoods
@punkinheadNWA Unfortunately we have not announced a 2nd store for Arkansas

@TheOzarkEcho No confusion. We have made no announcement of a new store in AR.

[Mith242]

Well this whole thing is odd and interesting.  It wouldn't seem like both would locate in the same area.  I'm not sure if either chain would be afraid to go up against ONF or not in a city like Fayetteville.  I've always wondered if ONF would ever try to open another location up in Benton County.  But I think they prefer just to focus on their one location.  Anyway thanks for keeping us all up to date on this.

[Mith242]

There was a fire early in the morning at the future Fresh Market location.  It was mentioned that there had been some wielding being done at the location and may have contributed to the fire.