DENVER (KDVR) — Residents in Douglas County will have a new Whole Foods to shop at beginning Thursday as the county welcomes its third store.
The county has a Whole Foods in Highlands Ranch, as well as a location in Castle Rock, but for Parker residents, that meant until this week, the closest location was either Highlands Ranch — which is about 10 miles away, or at least a 20-minute drive — or locations a little further away in Centennial and Denver.
At 8 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9, the new 43,000-square-foot store at 8665 Kings Point Way will open to the public. The store’s regular hours are from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
Customers who shop during the opening morning will receive complimentary local coffee samples and bites from Outrageous Baking, a plant-based, gluten- and dairy-free bread company based in Boulder. Customers in the afternoon will see a roadshow featuring cake samples from The Sweet Petite, a Fort Collins-area bakery.
Additionally, the first 300 customers in line will receive a custom tote bag and a “Secret Saver” coupon with offers up to $100 off.
The new Whole Foods location will have over 700 local items from Colorado producers, including dips from Blue Moose of Boulder; chai concentrate from Sherpa Chai, also of Boulder; cold smoked salmon from Villa Tatra of Lyons; and ground bison from Great Range Bison located in Henderson, among many other items. Further details about local items can be found online here.
Whole Foods maintains strict quality standards for the foods it sells, prohibiting products in the store that contain hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup, some flavors and colors, sweeteners and other common food ingredients.
In addition, all beauty and body care products cannot include over 240 commonly-used ingredients, such as phthalates, parabens and microbeads.
To help further celebrate the store’s opening, Whole Foods is providing an electric refrigerated van and a food donation to Castle Rock’s Help and Hope Center, which supports Douglas and Elbert county residents who are in financial distress. The organization makes regular surplus food pickups from other Whole Foods stores to help mitigate food waste.
Whole Foods said that the donations are part of the company’s “Nourishing Our Neighborhoods” program, which looks to give local food rescues better resources to transport surplus food to areas facing the greatest need.
Finally, Whole Foods is presenting Denver-based supplier SAM+LEO, which produces vegan gummy vitamins, with a low-interest loan to support the company’s launch into over 30 Whole Foods locations. SAM+LEO products will be included in the new store’s wellness and beauty section.
There are at least 22 other Whole Foods Market locations in Colorado.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
