Staff Photo Nick Brothers
The Whole Foods in Fayetteville opened Wednesday, March 2 at 3425 College Ave. The store will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
After about a year and a half of construction — and a delay to expand it — Whole Foods in Fayetteville is finally open.
The more than 29,000 square foot grocery store at 3425 N. College Ave., opened its doors for business Wednesday, March 2. This is the second Whole Foods to open in Arkansas, after the Little Rock store at 10700 N. Rodney Parham Rd.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Staff at Whole Foods in Fayetteville work to stock the shelves in preparation for opening day, Wednesday, March 2.
The Austin, Texas-based organic and natural foods grocery chain is known for offering a wide variety of locally and regionally sourced food products that meet the company’s high standards of sustainability and accountability. Whole Foods guarantees any of the products sold in the store will not have artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or sweeteners. Four hundred organic items will be for sale in the store, according to a press release.
Whole Foods stores are also known for their community involvement, and the Fayetteville store is no exception.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Special to the Fayetteville Whole Foods, the north side of the store will feature a bar that exclusively sell 16 types of national and local craft beer and wine by the glass. The bar will also include a full lunch and dinner menu featuring wood-fired pizza, sandwiches, sushi, and barbecue cooked in the store’s own smokehouse.
“We sell more than 150 local items in this store,” said Allison Chilcote, Whole Foods spokesperson. “A few of our local partners include Onyx Coffee, Crystal Lake Farms, Oh Baby, Ozark Natural Bread, Sweden Creek, Fayettechill and more.”
There are also four days throughout the year where the store gives away 5 percent of that day’s net sales to local nonprofits. The company already has a track record of giving 11 schools throughout Northwest Arkansas garden grants of $2,000 to support edible education for kindergarten through high school since 2012.
“We’re so excited to be able to partner and support some of the great, local non-profit organizations in Northwest Arkansas,” Chilcote said.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
The Whole Foods will also feature a imported and speciality cheese shop in addition to several other in-house food services in the store.
Beyond the aisles of organic and specialty products, there are several specialty services offered throughout the store. There will be a 16-tap beer and wine bar that offers a full lunch and dinner menu with selections from the store’s in house wood-fire pizzeria, salad bar, BBQ smokehouse, sushi bar and sandwich deli. The taproom will be open from 8 a.m. to close the opening week. After that, taproom hours will be 3 to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
There will also be a fishmonger, butcher and specialty cheese shop. All orders can be specialized and customized by cut, seasoning or filet or steamed.
The company hired about 100 total full and part-time positions to operate the store.
The Fayetteville store is part of a national effort by the company to build 100 new stores. Whole Foods currently operates 379 stores across the country, and has plans to cross the 500-store mark sometime in 2017.
