A grocery store known for its fresh and organic groceries will be opening its first store in the Capital District, putting more than 50 local products on its shelves and adding 227 jobs to the area.
On Wednesday, June 18, at 8:30 a.m. the 32,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market will open its 30th store in the Northeast, giving people in the area another grocery shopping option. The store anchors one corner of Colonie Center in a space formerly occupied by Sears.
While most new businesses open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Whole Foods will have a “bread-breaking” ceremony to signify the business is open. They will also be donating five percent of the day’s profits to a local charity.
“Four times a year, we do what is called Five Percent Giving Day. So, five percent of our sales for the day are given to a local charity. We partnered with the Capital District Community Garden, so they are going to get our first five percent,” said Michael Sinatra, the regional manager for Whole Foods Market.
The market also plans to donate to the Boys and Girls Club, Friends of the Pine Bush and local food pantries. The store prides itself on making every effort not to throw out anything it doesn’t have to.
“Our goal in this store is to always make as little waste as possible, so we always find local food banks to pick up our day-old bread, sandwiches, produce and things like that. Capital District Community Garden will be picking up produce to use in their veggie mobiles. Food pantries are going to alternate food pick-ups in the store. We try to do as much charity and partnerships as we can,” said Sinatra.
While one of the store’s main goals is to support local farmers, not all foods can be grown or made in New York or even the country, but there are still strict policies on what sort of farm meets the Whole Foods standards.
“The fact is we sell bananas, and you can’t grow bananas in Upstate New York, as much as we’d like to. So we do sell products from around the world, but we always try to work with farms that use fair trade,” said Sinatra.
The fish and meat are also strictly regulated, having to meet certain standards. Whole Foods is one of the only grocery store chains to own its own docking facility. Seafood like swordfish, cod and scallops make it from the sea to the store in 28 to 48 hours. In the meat department, there is a rating chart that rates how the animal was raised.
“We do believe that caring for the animals is important to the life cycle of them and what ends up on our shelf. We believe, and I think there’s a lot of truth to be said, that an animal that leads a less stressful life actually does taste better,” said Sinatra.
More than 50 items in the store are from the Capital District or Hudson Valley and are considered first-to-launch, meaning they are new to Whole Foods. Some of the products come from Indian Ladder Farms, Bilinski’s Sausage, Peanut Principle and many more.
“Whole Foods Market is excited to be introducing the Capital Region to our abundance of natural and organic goods with the highest quality standards in the industry, as well as to an overall unique and exciting shopping experience,” said Gabriel Edell, a store team leader at Whole Foods Market.
The market also has scheduled events, demonstrations and tastings, and has a dietitian on hand for advice. There is indoor café is capable of seating 122 people and has a kids play area.