After shopping at conventional stores for decades, Patricia Gonzales has switched to "natural" and organic food.
The Pasadena grandmother worries about serving her family anything genetically modified or grown with chemicals, pesticides and hormones.
"I don't shop at Ralphs or Vons anymore. I like Whole Foods because they don't put anything on the shelves that's not good for you," she said after a recent trip to the store on East Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena.
Starting next week, Gonzales and shoppers like her will have a bevy of new options.
Whole Foods Markets Inc. is opening a two-story emporium on Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena on Wednesday that will be its largest store west of the Rockies. More than 50% larger than a typical Ralphs or Vons grocery, it will include a wine and tapas lounge, a massage room, an in-house fresh jam and jelly center, a sandwich bar and a seafood counter serving ceviche and shrimp cocktails.
A day later, British retailer Tesco will launch its U.S. chain of small Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores with six Southern California branches. About 75 more are to follow locally over the next year.
In stores the size of a typical Trader Joe's, Tesco said, it will offer a California-oriented blend of prepared foods, fresh (and often organic) fruits and vegetables, and wine. It's aiming for in-and-out service akin to convenience stores.
And on the following Sunday, Sprouts Farmers Market, a Phoenix-based purveyor of "natural" and organic food, will open a store in Irvine, its third in the region. Additional stores are planned for Tustin and Seal Beach next year.
"We need to be in California because when you look at the demographics, that's where the large concentration of customers we attract live," Sprouts spokeswoman Patti Milligan said.
Their traditional competitors are not standing idly by. Ralphs now has 44 Fresh Fare stores that sell more gourmet wines and meats as well as heirloom tomatoes and other produce once found mainly at farmers markets. Vons owner Safeway Inc. now pitches its own "O Organics" brand and a greater selection of prepared food. Stater Bros. recently added 120 products from the Full Circle brand of "natural" and organic goods.
"People don't need to drive 15 miles for organic orange juice anymore," acknowledges Michael Besancon, president of Whole Foods' southern Pacific region.
Although the new stores mean more competition, experts don't expect them to set off a price war.
