With less than a week remaining for the opening of the eighth Whole Foods Market in the Greater Houston area, Whole Foods Champions is preparing the store to offer a fresh grocery experience to residents in The Vintage area.



"We're very proud of what we've built and very proud to get to know the Champions community," said Jeanette Webster, Whole Foods Market media and community relations coordinator. "We got a lot of feedback that this community really wanted a [Whole Foods Market]."



The 44,000-square-foot location features 10 registers for customers and 17 aisles of grocery products, not including its dairy, meat, produce, self-serve or prepared food sections. A company known for its dedication to healthy eating, Webster said none of the food sold will have artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. The location will offer more than 250 varieties of organic fruits and vegetables.



Webster said the store hopes to reach out soon to local farmers regarding available local produce. They will also offer whole trade produce, and through Whole Foods' Whole Trade Guarantee program, every purchase of whole trade products goes toward funding projects, such as community centers, schools and homes.



The quality of the produce provided extends to other products within the store, including the meat and seafood. Whole Foods Champions will smoke its own barbecue in-house and offer ready-to-cook seafood offerings, such as salmon burgers, Webster said.



The store provides a wide array of options for consumers looking to pick up fresh food on the go, including an in-house juicer, olive bar, salad bar, juice and coffee bar, made-to-order sandwich stations, a wood-burning pizza oven, a build-your-own-sushi area and a beer and wine sample station.



The new grocery store will be the first to feature a Peruvian-style chicken area, she said, and features a bar where customers can order as many as 16 different beers on tap.



Webster said the store plans to work with several Houston-area breweries. Offering products from local vendors is important to the company, she said. In total, the store will offer more than 1,300 local products.



Whole Foods Champions employs about 200 people with about 20 percent of those employees transferring from other locations. In addition to providing the community with new jobs, the store will give back to the community by providing 1 percent of its sales in its first five days to local nonprofits.



"The best way to get to know a community is to partner with organizations that have been there a long time," Webster said. "Community partnerships are very important to [Whole Foods]."



Here is the schedule for the days in which customers' purchases will benefit each nonprofit:



  • June 25: Klein Independent School District Foundation

  • June 26: D. Bradley McWilliams YMCA at Cypress Creek

  • June 27: Barbara Bush Library Friends

  • June 28: Cypress Creek Foundation for the Arts & Community Enrichment

  • June 29: SIRE, Houston's Therapeutic Equestrian Centers

For more information on Whole Foods Market, visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com.