Whole Foods announces opening date for Brighton location. What the store will offer and more
A Whole Foods Market, the anchor store of a plaza proposed more than seven years ago for Brighton, finally has an opening date.
Whole Foods at 2740 Monroe Ave. near Interstate 590 will open at 7 a.m. Wednesday, April 12. The news comes a week after the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the plaza's approval and was backed by competing grocer Wegmans Food Markets.
The new 50,000-square-foot store is the Rochester area’s first, and only the second in western New York; the other location is in Amherst, Erie County.
With regular hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, the Brighton store will feature more than 500 items from central and western New York, a number of them produced by Rochester-area businesses.
What Whole Foods store in Brighton NY will offer
∎ Organic, conventional and fair-trade produce, with an in-house “veggie butcher” cutting fruits and vegetables to order.
∎ An artisan cheeses department.
∎ A curated grocery section including items from the grocer’s label, 365 by Whole Foods, and such local products as coffee from Rochester-based Bold & Gritty, sauces from Rubino’s Italian Foods, whose flagship store is in Irondequoit, pasta from Bozza’s in Hilton and kombucha from Katboocha in Rochester.
∎ Full-service seafood and meat departments.
∎ More than 200 craft beers, including by Rochester’s Swiftwater Brewing, Fifth Frame Brewing and Strangebird.
∎ A prepared foods section with hot-food and salad bars, a soup station, made-in-house rotisserie chicken, fresh pizza, sushi, prepackaged salads and sandwiches to go and fresh Mediterranean-style salads and grain bowls.
∎ A bakery department with house-made bread, seasonal offerings and special-diet items. The store said it will collaborate with Village Bakery and Café (which has locations in Rochester, Pittsford, Webster and Victor) to provide baguettes, sourdough, and table batard, among other items.
∎ A Whole Body section selling beauty and body care products.
The store’s interior design “leans into Rochester’s rich history as an epicenter for photography,” the company stated. An enlarged film strip over the specialty department features local landmarks “as a nod to Kodak.”
Opening day will include giveaways, free samples and live entertainment and refreshments for people who arrive early. For more, go to rocgrandopening2023.splashthat.com.
Grocery pickup will be available at the Brighton location, and select products will be discounted for Amazon Prime members. (Amazon bought Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion.)
About Whole Foods
Whole Foods originated as a health food store in 1980 in Austin, Texas. Rapid expansion beginning in the 1990s reflected increased consumer demand for natural and organic products.
In its statement, the company pointed out it only sells food that does not contain hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup or other common flavors, colors and sweeteners. In addition, its beauty and body care products ban nearly 200 commonly used ingredients, including phthalates, parabens and microbeads.
As part of its Nourishing our Neighborhoods program, the company will donate a refrigerated van to the Open Door Mission for food distribution and support two other local nonprofits, Foodlink and Flower City Pickers.
The Whole Foods plaza project, including the grocery store and 33,700 square feet of other retail businesses, received major Brighton town approvals in 2018.
Its progress was stalled by a series of lawsuits brought by organizations including Brighton Grassroots, over what they said were traffic and overbuilding concerns. The town of Brighton and developer Daniele Family Companies prevailed in those legal challenges, the last of which was dismissed last week by New York State Supreme Court Justice J. Scott Odorisi.
In his ruling, Odorisi noted that testimony revealed Wegmans — whose flagship store in Pittsford is less than a mile from the Brighton Whole Foods location — backed Brighton Grassroots financially, including by paying its legal costs, causing a “major credibility factor” for the plaintiffs. And further, that a Brighton Grassroots’ spokesperson’s “inaccurate comments to the media about funding sources served to only undercut (Brighton Grassroots’) intentions.”
In a statement, the organization said it intends to appeal. In its own statement, the Daniele family said it was pleased the lawsuits had finally come to an end and that Whole Foods would be free to open in the spring.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Whole Foods Market announces opening date for Brighton NY store
