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| - There's a lot to like about this store. A few major-ish issues for me personally, which may not affect others, but I offer them here nonetheless.
Today being opening day with large crowds, parking was a bit of a navigational adventure. Instead of parking easily on the ground floor of the structure, we were routed to the 2nd and 3rd levels of the ramp. The ground floor appears to still be under construction; once that's finished, it should be fairly easy to park most of the time. That said, the entrances to the stores, including elevators and easily accessed stairs were clearly marked. Once inside, I was greeted by a friendly young person of color who handed me a flyer. I only mention that she was a POC because she was literally the only one in the store that I saw. There were tons of staff on hand, all white, and tons of leadership team members milling about, also vastly comprised of white males. So there's that for your consideration.
Being a mostly co-op shopper, I appreciate the selection of bulk organics and other staples that are fairly priced for those times when the co-op is closed. Festival foods is open 5 am - 12 am. With the location between my work and home, it's a safe bet that I will be here regularly for staples like cat litter and such.
Shiny waxed concrete floors are nice, the carts come in two sizes, behemoth and double decker smaller. I liked the pass though design that made filling the bottom of the double decker cart easy. Very high ceilings with open exposed and wood beamed sections. Love the reclaimed local ash tree ceiling supports.
Basics like Kleenex and cat litter are higher priced, in fact the highest I've seen for cat litter specifically. The water pressure comes out in a knife-like jet at the reverse osmosis water jug filling station, almost impossible to fill a full gallon because of the back splash effect. It's a few pennies cheaper than other places.
Quiet music, seemed to be a Frankie Valli/four seasons mix.
Tons, and I do mean tons, of staff on hand provided ample guidance. I couldn't go two feet without another employee greeting me enthusiastically.
The coffee bar in the front far corner of the store serves Kinkin coffee, and in fact one of the owners of the company was there serving today. $2.75 for a 12 oz. is a bit steep, but it's Kinkin, so it's worth it. No punch card system for drinks, but they will have a frequent buyer program for bagged Kinkin bean coffee, $16 a bag. This leads me to my greatest criticism of this new store. The bagged coffee selection is abysmal. ABYSMAL. Cameron's is their featured product, which is the same as Pick 'n' Save. Other than that, you can take your choice of Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and McCafe. Seriously? Plus all the Keurig cups you could ever want. (UGH! I want none.) Someone really dropped the ball here. You can get A+++ Kinkin coffee or D--- coffee and nothing in between. I would suggest at the very least carrying one local roaster's line besides Kinkin. JBC, Just Coffee, Colectivo, something!
Major props for the liquor store section. Prices are great, selection of craft beer is outstanding, the build your own six packs are $8.99 and the offerings are extensive, two whole cold case doors' worth. If you ever don't see one you'd like to try, they'll let you choose one from any other $8.99 or less six pack. Growler station too with six excellent brews on tap including Surly (be still my heart!). Hopefully they will start allowing/carrying smaller growler fills than just the current half gallon size.
Dedicated gluten free aisles toward the front of the store are going to be handy for many people.
Huge selection, but not a ton of shelf space for each, due to this being half the size of their usual stores. Definitely caters to the grab and go millennial shopper: 18 kinds of kombucha, one brand of hair color. The whole store has a grab and go feel, kind of a Trader Joe's meets HyVee vibe. You might not find your specific brand or size of a given product, but you can find a reasonable facsimile if you're in a pinch and other stores are too far away or closed.
Carts handle nicely, smooth and quiet wheels.
*Very* nice artisan cheese selection, the whole deli will blow you away. Holy moly. Grab-and-go everything on earth you could possibly want to eat. Very concerts-on-the-square, impromptu picnic friendly.
Wifi and mobile alerts signup was not working, but they looked into it right away and it was working when I left.
Self checkout near the base of stairs doesn't currently allow for two payment methods like Woodman's does, without a worker interceding, which defeats the convenience factor.
People were exceedingly helpful throughout the store. Input was listened to. I do think overall this is a huge asset to the area and will be extremely popular.
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