Whole Foods, Half Baked

Well it looks like Whole Foods isn't gonna be coming to Park Slope anytime soon. According to the Brownstoner (via the Real Estate Blog of the Observer): "The Whole Foods superstore that's been planned for the corner of 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue in Gowanus will never happen, according to a source with close connections to the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the government agency that needs to sign off on the clean-up of the polluted site before any building can begin. Environmental concerns aside, evidently the trend in the supermarket biz has swung away from superstores, our source notes; in addition, in the wake of poor earnings this summer, Whole Foods announced that it would be cutting back on the number of new stores next year. The likely upshot? Even if Whole Foods decided to open a smaller store in Brooklyn, says our source, it's unlikely it would want to use this site. You buying it?"

Lost in all of this was some behind the scenes maneuvering by an unnamed state senator known for working the DEC angle every once and awhile. The Alliance sheds no tears for this anti-union operation; and encourages the city to promote neighborhood markets instead.