What is it with Whole Foods Market? In Santa Monica it seems like there’s one on every corner. Some of the natural and organic foods supermarkets are big, others smallish. Regardless, every time I drive by the siren song starts and I end up perusing the isles of fresh, organic and pricey foods. And I can’t remember the last time I walked out spending less than $20. A full-scale shopping trip easily costs $150 or more. And I keep going back… three or four times a week. The nickname “Whole Paycheck” is about right in my case. It seems like the grocer is staking a similar “on every corner” claim near Ventura Boulevard. It recently opened a flagship store at 18700 W. Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana, the third Whole Foods Markets on or near Ventura Blvd. in an area that spans from Canoga Ave. in Woodland Hills to Sepulveda Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. The new Tarzana store occupies 30,000 square feet of space and employs 200 people. Among the offerings: in-store sit down eateries; a 40-seat wine bar that serves tapas, beer, wine by the glass and sake cocktails; and the largest olive bar in Los Angeles. Time for olive aficionados to get off the sidelines and invest! Love or hate Whole Foods, one thing is for certain: The company’s presence in a neighborhood or retail center can do miracles for boosting foot traffic and spending. I have never seen one of the stores doing less than steady to heavy business. Another benefit for the surrounding community is the number of jobs the publicly traded company creates. Fortune magazine ranked it as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America. In fact, I watched the grocer move into an old strip mall in Albuquerque, N.M. that had lost its anchor tenant. Other businesses had moved out and the mall was an eyesore. Within a year of Whole Foods setting up shop, the property was bustling and beautiful again. Whole Foods’ eco-friendly and health conscious mission aside, these guys are shrewd business operators. The company has more than 275 stores in the U.S., Canada and UK and generated more than $8 billion in revenue in 2009. Its stock steadily climbed from approximately $10 per share in early 2009 to approx. $40 per share currently. The newest location is in close proximity to another prominent up-scale market. Competition will surely be high. And I’ve heard from local real estate professionals that Whole Foods is a tough negotiator that’s quick to play the loss leader card. But Whole Foods staking a heavy claim in this area is a retail real estate opportunity. It proves the Valley has the demographics to support the company’s expansion. But it seems like the Ventura Boulevard communities, and even Santa Monica for that matter, would also benefit by attracting more savvy competitors into the area that can undercut Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s is one such retailer. Another company that, in my opinion, has the potential to give Whole Foods a run for its money is Boulder, Col.-based Sunflower Farmers Markets. It was founded by some of the folks involved in the Wild Oats market chain, which Whole Foods purchased a few years back. Sunflower is expanding in Southwestern states, but does not yet have a presence in California. The stores are brilliant. Versus being an up-scale and pricey environment, they’re a no-frills version of Whole Foods – albeit the stores are usually smaller. They mix conventional groceries with natural and organic products. And they offer well-priced wine and beer. Just food for thought. Augmented Reality Here’s a bit of tech news for all you business owners that love things that speed up the process of finding and/or leasing a piece of property. Rofo (www.rofo.com), a search engine dedicated to matching businesses with office space, and junaio (www.junaio.com), a new mobile augmented reality platform, recently joined forces. Junaio 2.0 features a new Rofo commercial real estate channel that’s available as a free app on the iPhone and 3GS. It will soon be available for Android devices. It gives business owners instant access to complete information on available property listings by simply pointing their phone at a building of interest. Rofo provides up to date national commercial real estate listings to mobile users via junaio’s augmented reality technology. The latter utilizes the phone’s compass and GPS to show digital content overlaid on real time locations. Users can access information on nearby office spaces, including type of space, space size, monthly rent expense, and lease type. They can make direct inquiries to the appropriate broker or landlord right from the mobile device. You can either point the camera on the phone at an appealing office building or city block to identify availabilities, or browse nearby spaces within a specified radius using a Map View feature. Users can also snap and post images or notes on interesting locations directly within the app for future reference. Staff Reporter Eric Billingsley can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or at [email protected].
