Signs of activity at future West Seattle Whole Foods Market space

(WSB photos. Above, 40th Avenue SW side)

Thanks to Keri for the tip! For the first time since we broke the news in September 2017 that the West Seattle Whole Foods Market plan was back on, there are signs of activity – literally – at the future store’s space in The Whittaker (4755 Fauntleroy Way SW).

(Fauntleroy Way side)

The window signage apparently started going up yesterday – Keri’s tip came in late last night – and more was being added when we went by this morning.

As shown in the top photo, Whole Foods is still projecting it’ll open in fall of next year (when we last checked in April, the company told us “latter part of 2019”). The West Seattle Whole Foods saga is a long one – dating back almost 13 years, to the original February 2006 announcement that they would open in what was then Fauntleroy Place, a project later idled (post-excavation, so it was nicknamed “The Hole” for 4+ years), eventually becoming (under different owners/developers) Spruce, with LA Fitness in the commercial space instead. Then in November 2012, developers of The Whittaker announced WF as their anchor tenant, to open in 2015. That timeline kept sliding until the plan was officially shelved for half of last year, then revived.

As for when Whole Foods’ Whittaker build-out will start, city files verify that permits are in progress. We have inquiries out to WF, though the looming holiday could delay the response.

Mr E December 28, 2018 (3:35 pm)

Assuming Amazon requires all customers to download an app to their phones in order to shop – similar to Amazon Go – the open positions for the store will most likely be people stocking shelves and tending to the produce, meats, and deli area.

Peeb December 28, 2018 (5:55 pm)

There are no other Whole Foods stores in Seattle that operate like an Amazon Go store – so why would this one be like that…?
Katrina December 28, 2018 (6:03 pm)

This isn’t true at other Whole Foods, why would you think it would be here?
Nuh Uh December 28, 2018 (11:12 pm)

Amazon website on your phone has a quick link for scanning at their physical locations. No app necessary. I was concerned about that so it was a welcome sight.

Martin December 28, 2018 (4:26 pm)

Wish it was a uwajimaya 😫

Ryan December 28, 2018 (4:43 pm)

No doubt!
Apey December 28, 2018 (5:12 pm)

Maybe Uwajimaya can move into Barnes & Noble 😃
- ACG December 29, 2018 (12:43 pm)
  
  That would be cool, but I bet another grocery type store is prohibited in the Westwood Village complex due to QFC being there. That’s only a guess, though…
- Yazzz! December 29, 2018 (1:28 pm)
  
  Oh that would be so awesome!!!!! I love Uwajimaya!
- Joan LaBriola December 30, 2018 (2:52 pm)
  
  That would be awesome!!!

k December 28, 2018 (4:28 pm)

hi Mr E, that’s an incorrect assumption – as it currently stands.

montanapup December 28, 2018 (4:34 pm)

To bad this isn’t in Delridge where it’s needed……..

Katrina December 28, 2018 (6:02 pm)

We in N Delridge were told, years ago, by a business person (at a community meeting) that the neighborhood is not dense enough to support a major grocery store. Too many beautiful green spaces.

waikikigirl December 28, 2018 (6:13 pm)

OOH yes, yes why can’t it be a Waji closer to home!!!

Philip December 28, 2018 (6:19 pm)

The people wanting an Asian market already have a very decent one: C & T Market at 9841 16th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98106 right here in West Seattle. I shopped there today.

Nancy December 29, 2018 (2:58 pm)

I agree, Philip! The prices were better than Uwajimaya, too!

aa December 28, 2018 (6:50 pm)

In my opinion, or its my hope that we can influence decisions regarding automation. If people don’t use the Amazon go stores they won’t make more. If we stop using the self check out in grocery stores they will be forced to schedule more checkers. Right now its a pain because stores with self check out have been able to reduce the number of employees. So for awhile we might need to accept a slower pace at the checkout line while the companies catch on and increase staffing . Worth the cost of an extra few minutes of my time so my fellow humans don’t get pushed out by machines.

Swede. December 28, 2018 (7:56 pm)

Great thinking!My experience is that self-checkout always is slower. I’m definitely not as quick and accurate as the people skilled as cashiers!
- Erithan December 28, 2018 (9:07 pm)
  
  In my case I use self checkout due to lack of casheers and training, (Most people bagging at where I am don’t know how to properly do it ), so for me they’re very helpful. I think with self check out at least there are both positives and negatives to having them, just one example of a positive.
G December 28, 2018 (9:31 pm)

I would think people would want to be doing more meaningful work than stocking shelves and checking out groceries…And as a consumer I don’t want to be wasting 10-15 mins of my life every week waiting in another line just to checkout. I sure hope Amazon has plans to bring the Grab & Go experience to it’s Whole Foods!Here’s a look at the plans – https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2018/11/02/west-seattle-whole-foods-store-plans-opening-date.html
Huh? December 28, 2018 (9:37 pm)

You sound idealistic! Love where your heart is at but the reality is if they don’t do it someone else will!
Luke December 29, 2018 (12:44 am)

I am with you 100%. I never use self checkout no matter how long the line for a cashier is.
Pete December 29, 2018 (12:37 pm)

Haha. Yet automation and technology is what is allowing you to write comments on the blog. If you have bought clothes, own a car, eat any kind of food from a grocery store in the last 10 years…there is some automation, and people lost jobs. Automation also creates jobs…we just have to look at it from a wider lens, not focus on what is front of us.
Poultine January 1, 2019 (7:45 pm)

Just think of all those ferriers that got put out of work when people stopped riding horses for transportation, or the longshoremen unemployed by containerized shipping, and all the other millions of jobs lost as we move on to more efficient ways of solving our problems. Or were you also voting with your dollars for hand-picked food carried by horse and cart to the… where do you shop again?I’m all for making sure people have work, but making things slower and more annoying than they need to be seems like the wrong way to solve that problem. There are reasons why the Luddites are not the heroes of history.

Kate December 28, 2018 (7:25 pm)

Thanks for the info. Looking forward the saga ending. This might be a nice time, too, for a PCC update WSB.

Shopper December 28, 2018 (9:36 pm)

Admiral PCC is scheduled to open in 2019 also. The Whole Foods space is much further along and will likely open before PCC.

momosmom December 29, 2018 (4:37 am)

C&T Market in WC is OK if you need something in a bottle or prepackaged so as to not worry about cleanliness and yes I know Uwajimaya is way more expensive but so will be Whole Foods, Amazon and even PCC than like a Safeway… IMOJust a note…the other Asian Market in WC do not buy meat there, I was in the produce dept. heard a loud noise looked up and saw a worker with a slab of frozen meat stomping on it on the floor just in its opened wrapping. UGH!!!

Marietta December 29, 2018 (4:44 pm)

@momosmom- well, you do realize that the meat is full of dead animal parts, right? Regardless of how it’s handled, meat is still chopped up animal- FYI.

anonyme December 29, 2018 (7:06 am)

Thought PCC was to re-open in spring? Taking the bus to Columbia City is getting very old, and I fear what the commute will look like once MaxCon arrives. Farmer’s market has been useful, but not much available now. We need a WS PCC shopping vanpool!

WSB December 29, 2018 (12:04 pm)

When construction began almost a year ago, the projection was “by late summer.”
https://westseattleblog.com/2018/01/followup-pcc-site-project-update-one-week-after-demolition-start/

Year and a half is fairly standard for this size of mixed-use project, at least the ones we’ve seen in WS over the past decade of coverage.

As requested by somebody upthread, we’ll be checking in.

Sabrina December 29, 2018 (9:44 am)

Yay can’t wait for Whole Food!!!

Howard December 29, 2018 (1:08 pm)

Whole Foods: “We’re coming to West Seattle!”Whole Foods: “We’re not coming to West Seattle!”Whole Foods: “We’re coming to West Seattle!”Whole Foods: “We’re not coming to West Seattle!”Whole Foods: “We’re coming to West Seattle!”Oh Boy gee, maybe we’ll get lucky this time..,..

Trickycoolj December 29, 2018 (1:28 pm)

Hope this takes the pressure off of Safeway/QFC/TJs. I’ve shopped both this are and WWV QFC on Sunday because that’s what my schedule allows working late most days of the week and a lot of our stores will be completely out of 2% milk by Sunday evening. With all the new developments around the grocery stores can’t seem to keep up stock of the basics for the weekend surge, getting old. Reminds me of growing up in rural Thurston when the 2 grocery stores in town would run out of things and you had to drive 45 min to Olympia.

NicatNite December 29, 2018 (1:43 pm)

Where are all you Whole Food Shoppers gonna park? Under ground parking in that building? Just curious.

WSB December 29, 2018 (5:04 pm)

The Whittaker has a huge amount of underground parking that’s been awaiting the store’s opening (originally planned for 2015).

Justin M Bishop December 29, 2018 (6:37 pm)

Can’t wait to give up Metro Market which consistently infuriates me. Also looking forward to the PCC! The other grocery stores better realize their easy ride is over: competition is coming.

momosmom December 29, 2018 (7:26 pm)

@Marietta…I’m assuming from your comment that you are a vegetarian which is perfectly fine, I at one time was too but then fell in love with a meat eater and the story goes… what I was getting at is that the employee had the meat on the dirty wet floor trying to loosen up 2 pieces so he could cut it and put it in the display case to sell, so it has nothing to do with it being meat and nothing to do with it being a dead animal.And FYI… lettuce in the past few weeks has made a few hundred people dreadfully sick.

David Kerlick December 29, 2018 (10:32 pm)

I refuse to use self checkout. Why should my unpaid labor replace somebody’s needed wages, so a few billionaire oligarchs can have more billions?

Buck December 30, 2018 (10:05 am)

I’m with you David.
Wscommuter December 30, 2018 (10:20 am)

“Billionaire oligarchs” pushing out grocery workers? Really? Which “oligarchs” are you referring to? Or which “billionaires”? A tad out on the fringe left there?

Buck December 30, 2018 (10:04 am)

Amazon no-go. I enjoy my 30 second conversations with the wonderful staffs at Trader Joe’s and Thriftway. Never had a good conversation with a card reader. Think I’ll continue to shop at the stores I enjoy and let the newbies go to hole foods.

Airwolf December 31, 2018 (8:31 am)

Question: is there good pizza at Wholes foods?

Marfaun December 31, 2018 (8:58 am)

Wish it was New Seasons going in. Best combination of WF and PCC. Check it out on Mercer Island.

Wsres January 1, 2019 (4:24 pm)

Yay!! This past month I have been shopping at Met Market since a QFC employee yelled at me for pointing out the filthy duster he placed on top of the apples. QFC was getting worse and worse and I was hoping that Whole Foods would open soon so I can shop in my neighborhood again!

DB Coop January 3, 2019 (9:49 am)

Pfft, who cares? Hole Foods has been snubbing West Seattle for over ten years, now we just don’t need them. Of course all the new condo people will disagree but they have no sense of what it means to be “local”. I won’t shop there, I’ll go to PCC instead.

Sorry, comment time is over.