From fresh-cut fruits and produce to steam-to-order fish and newly-baked pastries, the new Whole Foods Market in Foggy Bottom has just about everything, and it’s days away from opening its doors in its new location at 2201 Eye St., NW.
On Sept. 6 at 10 a.m., President Knapp will help welcome the natural and organic supermarket to GW’s campus with a bread breaking ceremony, followed by free samples and music.
“We’re proud to introduce our new store to the Foggy Bottom community and we have worked hard to bring new features and products tailored especially for them,” said Whole Foods Market Foggy Bottom Store Team Leader Donovan Morris. “In addition to providing the wide selection of delicious, natural and organic foods that are the hallmark of the Whole Foods Market experience, we’re excited to be part of an innovative community that embraces new trends and look forward to continued growth.”
Steps from the Foggy Bottom Metro station, the 36,000-square-foot store is Whole Food’s fourth District location and will feature familiar Whole Foods offerings, including a juice, tea coffee/espresso bar, made to order meals, an organic salad bar, bakery, fresh flowers and café seating for 27 with free Wi-Fi. Committed to locally sourced foods, the two-level store will also have rolled-to-order sushi prepared by Kaz Sushi Bistro and locally sourced meat and seafood, beer/wine and produce.
The store will also have promotions and events tailored to the GW community.
Foggy Bottom Marketing Team Leader Kim Bryden said all 18 registers, the customer service booth and the juice and coffee bars will accept GWorld cards. Students can purchase any Whole Foods products—excluding beer and wine— using their GWorld card.
“We wanted to do anything possible to make Whole Foods more accessible for students,” said Ms. Bryden. “We are thrilled that we are part of the GW campus.”
Unique to Foggy Bottom’s location is its convenient Prepared-Foods kiosk ordering system, where the lunch time crowd and on-the-go commuters can expedite the process of ordering and paying for items made in the Whole Foods Market kitchen—including hand-crafted Neopolitan pizza, sushi, sandwiches and burgers— with their credit card using touch-screen technology at six kiosks.
“The opening of Whole Foods is a significant accomplishment for the university, the city and the neighborhood that brings to fruition one of the key retail amenities envisioned for The Avenue during the campus planning process,” said Alicia Knight, senior associate vice president for operations.
Whole Foods is located in The Avenue (previously known as Square 54) and is a key component of the integrated development strategy in GW’s 2007 Foggy Bottom Campus Plan which aims to accommodate the university’s forecasted space needs on campus via a “Grow Up, Not Out” strategy while allowing for the mixed-use commercial redevelopment of Square 54.
“Congratulations to project developer Boston Properties who has worked with GW since 2005 to ensure The Avenue is a vibrant town center that provides diverse retail offerings such as Whole Foods, as well as unique streetscape elements, public green spaces, environmentally sensitive design and numerous other community amenities,” said Ms. Knight.
Store hours will be Monday to Sunday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m., and the coffee and juice bars will be open Monday to Sunday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.