Farewell Whole Foods

This is such sad news.  Our Davis Whole Foods is closing.  Today.  The news broke on Wednesday and it really put me in a funk.  I mean, there were other factors already at play (the rain, Elizabeth Warren’s silencing, etc) but UGH.  Obviously I will be fine – I’m sure I can find stuff at either the co-op or online at Thrive Market (which is probably the root of the issue) – but it’s still a sad situation.  If WF can’t survive in Davis, then what’s the future of the store like?  I think they are such a great company and align with their values so much.  It’s really a big loss for the town.

I was there a few days ago to grab some Simple Mills pizza dough because if you recall, they didn’t have it when I went a week ago.  True to their promise, they got it on the shelves for me!  I took this photo after grabbing a box to show you guys how stellar they are as a company (I mean, they listened to my request and then acted on it and produced the product in less than 1 week!). But I hadn’t even uploaded my camera pics before I heard the bad news!?!

I’m now regretting all the hot bar opportunities I didn’t take.

Do I sound insane?  It’s like I’m losing a person, not a store.  Ha.  Ok well it’s still a tragedy, but I will move on soon, I promise.  I wonder what they will do with that space?  Prior to the WF opening it was a Borders book store.  Nothing seems to do too well in that plaza…how awesome would it be if they opened a Veggie Grill there?  I could see it being a gym perhaps?

On Thursday night, the Davis WF instagram posted that everything would be 50% in the store through the weekend, while supples lasted.  Basically Elise heaven.  Kyle happened to be taking Friday off of work (because he’s going out of town today and wanted to spend QT with me and the kids before being gone for a week) so I told him I would go during their naps.  I spent that night making a dream grocery shopping list of all the splurge items that I’d always lusted over at WF but had never gotten because of the $$$$ price tag.  It was long.  Kyle was laughing at me, saying it was going to be like supermarket sweeps in the store as I raced through putting everything in my cart.  And to be honest, I was kinda ready to allow myself to treat myself.  To say I was excited would be an understatement.  It was a bittersweet ending to my beloved store, but at least I would get to go out on a positive note.

So then Friday morning came and I took the kiddos to gymnastics and discovered everyone was talking about the 50% off deal and how the shelves were already basically empty.  I was crushed.  How could people have already beat me to it?  A tiny part of me wanted to leave gym and go shopping while Kyle was at gym with them, but the rest of me couldn’t bear to prioritize discounted food over my babies.  After gym we went to the library Spanish program that P loves so so much. He is soaking up Spanish like a sponge and I love it so much.  The elementary school in our district is a dual immersion program, so the more exposure he has before he starts Kindergarten, the better.  I take V to the regular mother goose story time program on Tuesdays, like I used to do with P, but he is in school then and so we started going on Fridays because he was bummed to be missing library time.  A few months later…he’s really learned a ton of Spanish!  And he loves it. I have always spoken bits and pieces to him throughout the day, so he doesn’t actually realize he comprehends far more than he can speak, but this program has taken it to another level.  Anyway, all that was to say, it wasn’t until noonish that we got home.  I quickly made food for them and then left the clean up and nap time stuff to Kyle.  Off to WF!

I immediately hit traffic just trying to get downtown.  This is when I realized something may be up.

By the time I finally got to the WF parking lot, 25 minutes has gone by.  The lot was a mob scene and there was a 200 person line at both store entrances.  I didn’t even bother…just turned around and went back home.

Back at home, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I was crushed.  I made myself a second cup of coffee and just sipped it in silence.  I kept regretting all the times that morning that I put my kids first, which made me feel SUPER HORRIBLE because helloooo, that’s the right thing to do.  But I was still frustrated that the one time I had finally given myself consent to do something for myself without guilt, it got messed up.  2017 was supposed to be the year I was better about that. After wallowing for too long, I pondered giving it a second attempt.  Kyle thought it wasn’t worth it, but around 1:30 I decided to go for it.  When else would I have someone else to watch the kids on a week day?  I had nothing else to do!  So I went for it.  I told Kyle (jokingly) as Ieft that I’d be home by 5.  HA!  Turns out…I wasn’t even exaggerating.

WORTH.  IT.

The line was about half as long as when I went by an hour before, so I just pulled out my phone and waited.  Fortunately, the weather was GORGEOUS (first time in weeks!) and I befriended the girl in front of me.  It made the time go fairly fast, even though it was almost 1 1/2 hours of waiting.

Once I got in though….

Heaven.

A lot of stuff was picked over, and many things I wanted were gone, but I still got a TON of things on my wish list.  And for 50%!!!

I did a good job getting things I’d been eyeing and hadn’t tried because I didn’t want to spend the money.

That coconut?  I have wanted it forever, but every time I tell myself “I could make that myself!  Why spend money on it!”  But at $2 it is most definitely a score.

And alllll the chocolate!

I got fancy local chocolates that are $$$$ and some favorite bars and some new bars.  chuao is SO pricey…I HAD to go for it!

Many of Kite Hill’s products were gone (like their cream cheese) but I did grab a couple cheeses.  I froze some so hopefully that will work.

I also got two new Califia milks to try.

Some oils that I have always wanted.

And so so much more…in the end I saved over $200 dollars.  And stocked up on so many of my 365 favorites that I won’t be able to get easily anymore.

I got home at 4:45, but was floating on a cloud for the rest of the day.  It was the best possible way to say goodbye to my store. I will be sad for a while still, but at least I have 365 organic decaf coffee to get me through until summer.  🙂