Whole Foods Market

Reviews 6

KE

Kelley Wilkinson

Those of us who knew the store in its former glory, Greenlife, still mourn the loss of of what had been one of the best natural food stores in the country. I used to shop there frequently. But what makes me really puzzled is the fact that it is now easier to find organic food items in the local chains such as Ingles, who dont even specialize in the natural food industry. These other local stores have nice size labels showing the location of all organic foods and make shopping a breeze. Whole Foods wont even put a small red dot (or anything!) signifying organically grown foods except for their produce. The organic items are hidden among all their items, with no organizational sense or labels whatsoever. You are forced to read EVERY. SINGLE. LABEL! to look for the organic mark on the item. Which takes forever. And really indicates to me that they are not supporters of the organic food movement. Which doesnt make sense for a store that advertises itself as an ‘eco-minded chain with natural and organic grocery items’. I suppose just the nature of being a large chain removes a lot of choices from them, which may be why I see produce items imported from half way across the world during times when the item is being grown locally by wonderful farmers. That said, this whole foods does offer some things that I cant get elsewhere in town. So I still go occasionally. Much less now that the deli department no longer sells fresh juices. Supposedly the produce department does but I am told their machine is broken. And buying juices that are made ahead of time sort of defeats the purpose for me. However they have some wonderful employees that make the experience nicer. And I do admire that they have sworn to label all gmo s in their chain stores. But I cant get past the blatant inattention to organic foods and the attempt to blend them into their other products.

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BR

Brett Rodgers

When I first moved to Asheville, Greenlife was one of the first places I went to check out... I was blown away! "This is the best health food store Ive seen yet" I said. It was geared toward providing great food, total holistic service and more! The message board was RIGHT UP FRONT where people could easily see or post anything they wanted to. The hot bar was small yet simple, fresh and healthy. There was room to breathe too! Not anymore. Since Wholefoods bought the store, the message board got moved to the far corner of the store. The hot bar is full of canola oil, non-organic food and all kinds of foods that are usually deemed unhealthy like white flour foods and dairy. They raised the price of the hot bar too. It used to be 5.99/lb. The first week or two of Whole Foods intervention was such a drag to many of us. They freaking PACKED the store with as much stuff as they possibly could. Is this good or bad? It sure didnt feel good to me! It was like an invasion of $$$ hording corporate goons had come to force their commercial gains on us! Now, one thing thats definitely better is that the employees are friendlier, CLEANER and more "professional" if you will. With Greenlife youd often be catered to by people that were just too ... grungy is the word. They were often just down in the dumps. The mohawks, the nose piercings (huge things of Africa) the attitudes of "yea, whatever" were all around! Basically, theyve tried to: Cater more to the general public. Pack the store with a LOT more stuff - at the expense of having a store that just "felt nice to shop at". (Most of which is not anything Id buy.) When I go to a health food store I DONT WANT TO BE AROUND THE GENERAL PUBLIC! I dont GENERALLY like them. lol. So... Greenlife was a 4.5 star store! Wholefoods is a 3.5 star store. Thats my opinion and Im sticking to it!

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A

A Private User

So the food and selection at Greenlife is top knotch, and everything other reviews have said about the prepared foods, desserts, and the meat/seafood is absolutely true. THAT SAID, shopping at Greenlife is always an overwhelmingly frustrating and obnoxious experience for me. I can count the number of positive interactions I have had with cashiers on one hand. The employees at Greenlife are consistently rude. I would say they are about the most miserable and unfriendly lot of people I have ever encountered in any grocery store. No wait, ANY STORE, EVER. As if living amongst the haughty, holier-than-thou "green" citizens of Asheville isnt painful enough. I have a crappy job and deal with an endless array of people day in and day out, but Im getting paid to serve them and keep a decent attitude about it. It is all I ask when going to my neighborhood grocery store to, ohh, I dunno, be smiled at, or even maybe receive a simple "Hello" when I check out. I give this place so much money! The food is worth it most of the time, but really? Considering how much cash I pump into this joint and the service I receive... frustrating. If I had a car, I would go anywhere else to avoid these people. I always leave thinking "I HATE this town!" When, really, I love this town. Oh yes. So great are the bad vibes at Greenlife.

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A

A Private User

SO SAD TO LOSE GREENLIFE TO WHOLEFOODS. The Locally-driven, consciously made, delivered & sold products that once lined Greenlifes shelves are slowly disappearing, after their prices have been exponentially raised by Wholefoods in order to encourage us to buy their own 365 brand. I feel as though we have lost a great advocate of locally-driven eating and economy. What will happen to our small family run businesses of which Greenlife was such a staunch supporter? What will happen to our local farms? I fear for Ashevilles food economy if the Wholefoods Incident is indicative of things to come. I used to shop at Greenlife regularly, a few times each week; whether to shop my weekly groceries or meet a friend for lunch. No more. Wholefoods has not maintained Greenlifes ethics & focus on supporting local and conciously, ethically run businesses. This is incredibly influential to the way I shop. Furthermore, the store itself has been revamped no longer feels like a warm, welcoming, neighbourhood grocery. Id rather drive the 2.5 miles to EarthFare. Quite frankly, I feel as though Ive lost a friend.

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LE

Leigh Wright

So disappointing. Greenlife used to be my favorite grocery store ever! They had the best snacks, amazing hot food, and the best cookie and dessert bar you could imagine. I went there every single day. I left Asheville for 5 years and when I returned, I was so excited to go back to my favorite grocery store. Everything changed once Whole foods bought it. There food is terrible, the cookie bar is suddenly all gluten free and even the sushi is horrid (I happen to think grocery store sushi is usually good). So sad. Ive been 3 times since I moved back, each time hoping it will be better and each time I am more and more disappointed. Another one bites the dust

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JA

James Brookins

Greenlife team members are most friendly cheerful helpful people. I cannot think of a day when I wasnt offered a smile. By the way the food is great fresh and within industry price range and competive with other markets. I also noticed higher availability of organics than markets within short distance to them. Non GMO labeling is well displayed. Even the non organics are selected from farmers who practice sustainable farming. I try to grow my own when I can...since that is really local (my garden) but when that isnt producing food I prefer GreenLife.

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