Who Gives A Shit: Are You Still Excited For Gowanus Whole Foods?

Photo Via www.crainsnewyork.com

After years of Will-They-Won't-They, Ross and Rachel Whole Foods finally got its shit together and was full steam ahead on making the anticipated Gowanus location a reality. However, in the same amount of time that the natural food market has been dilly dallying about whether or not to set up shop in Gowanus, Cobble Hill got a Trader Joe's and Red Hook got a Fairway. My theory is that the folk over at WF just needed proof that Brooklynites actually buy fancy ass groceries, but according to the company it was the sheer cost of the project that delayed it for so long. At a Community Board meeting last Thursday, Whole Foods execs cited the need for massive environmental cleanup near the canal and said that unless the property was rezoned to accommodate a 56,000 sq foot retail space - instead of the 10,000 sq feet that had been approved initially - they would face "financial hardship."

UM, maybe don't buy land adjacent to A GIANT CESSPOOL?! 

Also, I know less about zoning than I do about choosing the best organic, gluten free, fair trade cat kombucha, and less still about retail -- but doesn't it actually cost more to build a bigger building?

The way I figure, my last few years of Whole Foods impulse buys alone should cover at least a door or a window or something. Last week I went to buy a box of cereal and left with some solid perfume, a jar of (admittedly delicious) vitamin d gummies and seven Annie Chun noodle bowls. Anecdotal evidence of my poor buying habits aside, if you want further proof of the financial viability of the company look at THIS.

So what about it?  After all this time do we even really still want a Whole Foods or are we happy with Key Foods supplemented by Brooklyn Larder, Union Market, the co-op, etc., when in need of snazzy cheeses and what not?