Business Ins & Outs: Whole Foods to Open by Fall
By • August 9, 2021 0 3601
The Glover Park Whole Foods Market grocery store, closed since March 2017, is on track to open very soon. Neighbors routinely ask about it, and various media keep buzzing about the long-anticipated reopening.
The Georgetowner had contacted a Whole Foods representative previously, but as of today no official reopening date has been released.
Real estate agent Chris Jones of Long & Foster, who runs the GloverParkDC blog, enthusiastically chimed in a few weeks ago with the schematics to the store plan.
“Whole Foods has exciting things coming for shoppers when they open at 2323 Wisconsin Avenue NW in Glover Park in the near future,” he wrote. “GloverParkDC.com has obtained the DCRA-approved schematics to the store. Whole Foods officials have been tight-lipped about timing, but their plans reveal some great features for products and technology.”
Jones continued: “The D.C. Regulatory Authority has given its stamp of approval on the attached plans, which include these product offerings:
- A 34 seat eat-in bistro with a street-front bar seating area.
- Bistro items for eat-in including a fresh pizza counter by the slice or whole pie direct from their oven, sushi, possibly sandwiches, salads and more.
- Self-service coffee and espresso machines with pastries
- Salad bar, hot bar, cold bar and soup bar
- A cookie bar, mochi bar and macaron bar (which every grocery store needs)
- A fresh bread slicer
- A giant beer and wine section, of course (they have been sitting on their liquor license)
- A self-serve juicer”
“Even more exciting is the technology revealed in these plans,” Jones wrote in his blog. “The enrollment kiosks, digital exit screens and self-checkout areas suggest that Whole Foods is leveraging Amazon’s cashierless technology including touchless palm scanning for account ID, and walk-in walk-out technology (Amazon calls it ‘Just Walk Out’) to circumvent checkout similar to the Amazon Go experience in a few stores nationwide already. It appears this auto-scanning technology has not yet reached Whole Foods stores, but they are working on it. It does look like they are rolling out Amazon One to Glover Park, which uses biometrics to allow shoppers to hold their palm over a scanner to pay rather than take out cash or even a card. Amazon also has available the Dash Cart — a shopping cart with sensors to detect the contents and bill you without the need for checkout. This was being tested recently on the west coast at Amazon grocery stores, but not Amazon Go or Whole Foods yet. How much of this technology will be available immediately in Glover Park is uncertain, and officials are not saying yet, but the bagging stations separate from the checkout suggest that they are heading in the direction of this remote scanning technology.”
Meanwhile, the hyperlocal Pet of Petworth blog, PoPville, passed along another pre-opening detail about the store from a reader — job listings, which read in part: “Now Hiring – Glover Park, Washington, D.C. – All Team Member Level Positions. New Store Opening in Fall 2021! Located at: 2323 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20007. Starting Rate: $15.70 per hour. Currently Hiring FT & PT Team Members. Whole Foods Market Team Members perform all functions related to answering customers’ questions, assisting customers in finding products, and providing excellent customer service.”
We’re almost there, but Whole Foods — which is owned by Amazon — has not issued any statement concerning a reopening date for its Glover Park store.
An example of the high-tech check out. Courtesy GloverParkDC.
