This year, for the first time, I’m not co-authoring RSR’s annual store benchmark report. Of course, the report is in great hands with Nikki and Steve, and having seen an early draft, I can tell you it’s going to be good! But “store benchmark season ” always brings the question to mind, “Is the store dead? ” After all, the positive buzz is around the digital shopping experience and all the nasty noise is around the lack of good in-store experiences. Well, Whole Foods Market opened in North Miami on May 1. I just made it there Saturday morning and I’m here to say the store is alive and well. You just have to make it… interesting.

I’ve got to be clear, just the fact that I don’t have to drive to Aventura to get to a Whole Foods Market is reason enough to celebrate. I’ve written many times what an annoyance it is getting in and out of that town, regardless of the season. It also doesn’t hurt Whole Foods that my local Publix appears to have lost a step – especially in the produce department. In other words, I’ve been eagerly watching construction and waiting for the store to open just 30 blocks from my house. But Whole Foods Market made its store opening a true theater adventure. I was greeted in the parking lot by bands playing, special activities for kids, and policemen directing traffic. Yes, it really was that crowded (although as a local I do know the back way in!). But once I got inside the store it wasn’t about all that. It was about the products. The store contained a moveable feast similar to Costco, where I could sample everything from key lime mustard marinade to Parmesan Reggiano. Everyone likes a free lunch. But I learned some really valuable lessons during my first visit and did more than just chow down on site.

Lesson 1: Branding is about more than Brand Name

 Upon entering the store you walk smack dab into the fresh produce department. And the signs you see are “Organic: more than 91 products today ” and “Local more than xx products today ” (sorry, I don’t remember how many). In other words, the store found a way to hit both my hot buttons. I’ve definitely gotten religion around non-GMO food over the past year, and buying local just makes good sense. But the reason I’m calling “Organic ” and “Local ” brands follows.

Lesson 2: How Whole-Paycheck Became Half-a-Paycheck

 As I said, there are particular foods I’m really fussy about buying USDA-certified organic. Nuts and grains in particular are on my list, because I’ve read so much about how the seed stock has been tainted. Corn, soybeans, peanuts, almonds; it’s (rationally or irrationally) making me very nervous. So I want my almond milk to be organic. As it turns out, Whole Foods had half-gallon jugs of its 365 brand almond milk emblazoned with the USDA certified organic label. Into the cart it went. And so it went with many of the products I bought. The net of this was that the final bill was about 1/3 less than I’d expected it to be. So I saved myself some money, got what I wanted and left very happy. What happens when quality is defined not by the brand, but by the contents? It’s a really interesting phenomenon.

Lesson 3: Store Employees Really Do Matter

 People who move to South Florida are generally surprised at the indifference-bordering-on-surliness of the average store or office employee. For whatever reason, they really aren’t very nice. But the Whole Foods employees were genuinely happy. Check-out lines were short, and when I realized I was working with a brand new Whole Foods employee at check-out, who really didn’t know how to ring up “complicated things ” like yams, she was so sweet that I just didn’t mind waiting. The person who was training her said “Don’t worry, within a few months you’ll know them all by heart. ” She smiled broadly, and that just made me happy. How many of us can even expect our employees to be around for “a few months “? Maybe there is something to this conscious capitalism thing. I have a friend who has worked for Whole Foods as a produce manager forever. He put his daughters through college with his stock options. How many of us can say the same?

Being a technology analyst, I suppose I should comment on the in-store technology, but I honestly didn’t notice much. Yes, the check-out lines were short, but it remains to be seen if this is a “new store opening push ” or a permanent staffing reality. I’m sure hoping for the latter.

So while I’m hearing a lot of buzz around Amazon getting into grocery, and Walmart getting into the neighborhood market business, I’ve got a whole other thought process. Give me the assortment that I want, surprise and delight me with your service, and don’t cause me undue pain, and I’ll happily go on a discovery adventure at a local food store. I just have to remember to bring a shopping list next time… because nova lox without cream cheese is just not good enough. My bad!