From the Editor

Courting Customers

    I have a foodie friend who is so taken with Oakland’s new Whole Foods Market that she proclaimed one morning she was ready to leave her husband and move into the food emporium. Really.
    At almost the same time, two other acquaintances independently praised the glitzy grocer—one enthusing how she’d shepherded visiting elderly relatives on a soup-tasting culinary tour there; another, an Adams Point resident, gushing about how regularly he grabs to-go items from the self-serve Everett and Jones and prepared foods section within the megamarket. Their descriptions were so tantalizing that we dispatched Stett Holbrook to review the place for the February issue.
    Since I’m not much of a shopper, and I particularly loathe grocery shopping, it took me a while to make my Whole Paycheck pilgrimage, but once I did, I have to say, the place lives up to the hype. It’s visually stunning, well stocked and offers a true over-the-top shopping experience, if a little daunting and overwhelming for sheer volume alone.
    But the Whole Foods shopping experience is indicative of the lengths grocery stores go to today to court and keep customers while establishing themselves as market leaders. In short, stores have morphed into fancier “lifestyle” emporiums crammed with shelves of organic, artisanal and high-end products to meet the demands of evermore-discerning consumers. Today’s patrons want higher-quality products and a pleasant buying experience, not processed junk coldly vended under the glare of harsh fluorescent lights.
    In this issue, contributor Sarah Lavender Smith explores the evolution of grocery shopping and grocery stores in the East Bay, giving the pros and cons of the new chains (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Mia Pueblo and Fresh & Easy) as well as the locally owned indies (Farmer Joe’s, Piedmont Grocery, Village Market, Mulberry’s Market, Gazzali’s, Lucas Harvest Market and Mandela Foods Cooperative). She was a natural for the assignment because she assisted with a soon-to-be released documentary on a national bagger contest that also touches on changing supermarkets and their place within society.
    There’s lots more in store for Oakland readers—Wanda Hennig talks to aging experts and active seniors on how to live free, fit and fab in “Freedom After 50”; Heather Cassell introduces a new LGBT-friendly senior community; Elise Proulx’s Block Party hits Piedmont Avenue; Stett Holbrook reviews the film-noirish downtown digs and new American cuisine of Flora, the latest from restaurateurs Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky; and Matt Dibble floats into the heart of Oakland. So dig in, and let us know how we’re doing.



           





Judith M. Gallman
judy@oaklandmagazine.com