Business Ins & Outs: Whole Foods Testing, Smoothie King, West End CYM
By • January 31, 2022 0 1437
Whole Foods Reopening … at Last
As Whole Foods lovers wait for the Glover Park store to reopen, its long-closed grocery (March 2017) is currently test-running its Just Walk Out shopping technology with some of its Amazon Prime members on an invitation-only basis. An email sent to the invitees indicates that the testing — called pre-shopping — will continue through Feb. 21.
The soft opening, as it were, will help Whole Foods check out if there are any kinks in the new technology. The Georgetowner asked Whole Foods when the store would officially reopen to the public — and is awaiting a reply.
The store will be one of the first to use Just Walk Out technology for check out. “We are excited to announce that Whole Foods Market will open two stores featuring Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology as an option for customers. The stores, one in Washington, D.C.’s Glover Park neighborhood and one in Sherman Oaks, California, are expected to open next year,” said Jamie Forrest of Whole Foods Market in a 2021 statement.
The Whole Foods Market at 2323 Wisconsin Ave. NW will reopen with a 21,500 square foot sales floor, according to the company.
Smoothie King on M
Smoothie King — founded in Louisiana in 1973, headquartered in Texas and now owned by a South Korean company — is looking to fix up and set up shop at 3122 M St. NW in the space once occupied by Starbucks. The opening will likely be late spring. There are more than 1,000 Smoothie Kings worldwide.
Call Your Mother in West End
Call Your Mother, the “Jew-ish deli,” opened its doors in the West End neighborhood Jan. 30 — taking over the café space within the Yours Truly DC Hotel at 1143 New Hampshire Ave. NW. Call Your Mother’s newest location offers the same signature bagels and sandwiches that earned the bagel shop and deli national acclaim. To bring their sixth location to life, co-owners and husband and wife duo Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira, reimagined the cafe space at their restaurant Mercy Me to complement its offerings with Call Your Mother’s iconic breakfast and lunch fare.
“We are super excited to have finally opened our doors in the West End, bringing a totally new CYM experience to the neighborhood,” said Andrew Dana, the brand’s co-owner and founder. “This new shop is so unique, from the way the cafe space is designed to the partnership with Your Truly, it really is something for CYM fans, and West End neighbors to get pumped about!”
