News
ENLARGE
Religious bovine! (holy cow!) — Summit County grocery shoppers, it sure looks like Frisco may finally get to use its 9.4-acre vacant lot known as the Interstate Parcel.
Whole Foods Market, the upscale grocer lured by Wellington Neighborhood and Peak One developer David O'Neil, announced Wednesday in a quarterly report it has entered into an agreement to open a store over behind Safeway, near the Summit Stage Transfer Center.
The announcement followed three open houses at Frisco Town Hall on Tuesday, where citizens were asked to comment on the possibility.
Nearly all the remarks were on the plus side. Even nearby residents Syd and Arnie Yuan — outspoken opponents in the Home Deport turn-down vote a few years back — say they like this current idea better, but still have some concerns over traffic flows.
Although not part of current plans, the Yuans would like to see an I-70 off-ramp into the site.
The positive response from the 100-plus looky-loos, combined with a Friends of Frisco Whole Foods Market Facebook page, which had over 500 “friends” as of Thursday, things are looking pretty swell for the concept.
Among the FB “like” comments were these:
Amy Evans and Jen Gross Lara offering their shouts of “yay.”
The longtime Breckenridge marketing firm of Wilson Lass, wrote: “Everyone here at Wilson Lass is psyched about the possibility of a Whole Foods opening in Frisco. We think it would be a great addition to our mountain community and have joined the Friends of Whole Foods Frisco Facebook page to stay informed. Our fingers are crossed that this idea takes off.”
Camille Murphy says, “The Whole Foods in Boulder, in Denver at Hampden Avenue, and others are all fantastic stores. It would be wonderful to have one of their stores open in Frisco.”
Interior Designer Lynn Myers says, “I would love nothing more than to get a Whole Foods in our county. I would jump for joy. We need this.”
A cautious, but supportive Jay Hafemeister offers, “Adding a Whole Foods to the Frisco business landscape is great. It will continue to move the city of Frisco forward. My only question is this, why so much support for WFM when there was a lack of community support for the Home Depot project and fears of multiple Main Street businesses shutting down back in 2005? Remember? Frisco, don't make the same mistake twice. I hope to be shopping @WFMFrisco in the future.”
“It's a great idea,” remarks Maggie Sue Jackson from her keyboard. “We can't wait.”
Another Facebook-er, Ami Tingey Stone, offers this: “We would love WF in Frisco.”
And this from Don Leinweber: “Sounds like a great idea. Good for Summit, good for Frisco, good for me.”
Writing from Copper, Tom Malmgren says, “Enthusiastically support. This would be an excellent addition to our county.”
Hawn Drive resident Patti Hawkins Bowers writes, “We would see it out our back door — bring it on.”
Echoing Patti's comments, Jeri Heminghous says, “That's the spirit. I'll be jealous when you can walk there.”
And former Texan Granola Horton, says, “You mean I wouldn't have to drive to Denver every month to buy my groceries? Please come to Frisco, Whole Foods. You're absolutely the only thing I miss from Texas.”
Another person with local ties, Ben Friedland, former Copper Mountain Resort spokesman, is the WFM Rocky Mountain marketing coordinator.
Now for some corporate facts:
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, WFM is the leading retailer of natural and organic foods and America's first national “Certified Organic” grocer. In 2011, WFM had sales of approximately $10 billion and currently has 317 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
WFM employs more than 65,000 and has been ranked for 15 consecutive years as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by Fortune magazine.
In addition to the Frisco proposal, WFM signed seven new leases averaging 33,100 square feet in size in Miami, Fla., Orland Park, Ill., South Bend, Ind., Minneapolis, Minn., Jackson, Miss., Port Chester, N.Y., and Cleveland, Ohio.
Miles F. Porter IV, nicknamed “Spike,” a Coloradan since 1949, is an Army veteran, former Climax miner, graduate of Adams State College, and a local since 1982. An award-winning investigative reporter, he and wife Mary E. Staby owned newspapers here for 20 years.
Email your social info to milesfporteriv@aol.com
Whole Foods Market, the upscale grocer lured by Wellington Neighborhood and Peak One developer David O'Neil, announced Wednesday in a quarterly report it has entered into an agreement to open a store over behind Safeway, near the Summit Stage Transfer Center.
The announcement followed three open houses at Frisco Town Hall on Tuesday, where citizens were asked to comment on the possibility.
Nearly all the remarks were on the plus side. Even nearby residents Syd and Arnie Yuan — outspoken opponents in the Home Deport turn-down vote a few years back — say they like this current idea better, but still have some concerns over traffic flows.
Although not part of current plans, the Yuans would like to see an I-70 off-ramp into the site.
The positive response from the 100-plus looky-loos, combined with a Friends of Frisco Whole Foods Market Facebook page, which had over 500 “friends” as of Thursday, things are looking pretty swell for the concept.
Among the FB “like” comments were these:
Amy Evans and Jen Gross Lara offering their shouts of “yay.”
The longtime Breckenridge marketing firm of Wilson Lass, wrote: “Everyone here at Wilson Lass is psyched about the possibility of a Whole Foods opening in Frisco. We think it would be a great addition to our mountain community and have joined the Friends of Whole Foods Frisco Facebook page to stay informed. Our fingers are crossed that this idea takes off.”
Camille Murphy says, “The Whole Foods in Boulder, in Denver at Hampden Avenue, and others are all fantastic stores. It would be wonderful to have one of their stores open in Frisco.”
Interior Designer Lynn Myers says, “I would love nothing more than to get a Whole Foods in our county. I would jump for joy. We need this.”
A cautious, but supportive Jay Hafemeister offers, “Adding a Whole Foods to the Frisco business landscape is great. It will continue to move the city of Frisco forward. My only question is this, why so much support for WFM when there was a lack of community support for the Home Depot project and fears of multiple Main Street businesses shutting down back in 2005? Remember? Frisco, don't make the same mistake twice. I hope to be shopping @WFMFrisco in the future.”
“It's a great idea,” remarks Maggie Sue Jackson from her keyboard. “We can't wait.”
Another Facebook-er, Ami Tingey Stone, offers this: “We would love WF in Frisco.”
And this from Don Leinweber: “Sounds like a great idea. Good for Summit, good for Frisco, good for me.”
Writing from Copper, Tom Malmgren says, “Enthusiastically support. This would be an excellent addition to our county.”
Hawn Drive resident Patti Hawkins Bowers writes, “We would see it out our back door — bring it on.”
Echoing Patti's comments, Jeri Heminghous says, “That's the spirit. I'll be jealous when you can walk there.”
And former Texan Granola Horton, says, “You mean I wouldn't have to drive to Denver every month to buy my groceries? Please come to Frisco, Whole Foods. You're absolutely the only thing I miss from Texas.”
Another person with local ties, Ben Friedland, former Copper Mountain Resort spokesman, is the WFM Rocky Mountain marketing coordinator.
Now for some corporate facts:
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, WFM is the leading retailer of natural and organic foods and America's first national “Certified Organic” grocer. In 2011, WFM had sales of approximately $10 billion and currently has 317 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
WFM employs more than 65,000 and has been ranked for 15 consecutive years as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by Fortune magazine.
In addition to the Frisco proposal, WFM signed seven new leases averaging 33,100 square feet in size in Miami, Fla., Orland Park, Ill., South Bend, Ind., Minneapolis, Minn., Jackson, Miss., Port Chester, N.Y., and Cleveland, Ohio.
Miles F. Porter IV, nicknamed “Spike,” a Coloradan since 1949, is an Army veteran, former Climax miner, graduate of Adams State College, and a local since 1982. An award-winning investigative reporter, he and wife Mary E. Staby owned newspapers here for 20 years.
Email your social info to milesfporteriv@aol.com
