Whole Foods breaks ground in Edina

Breaking ground in Edina

​The history of grocery stores in Edina is actually quite long, with Hove's in 1942 and the Country Store where Cub Foods now sits on York Avenue. Wednesday brought the groundbreaking of the latest supermarket to come to the Southwest suburb, the national retailer Whole Foods, which is moving into Centennial Lakes Plaza at France and Parklawn avenues. Developers, Whole Foods executives, architects, and city officials enjoyed lunch at Hughes Pavilion and then a photo op at the site, replete with hard hats and golden shovels.

The event was a bit of a lovefest, with the events led by project manager Bruce Carlson of Mid-America Real Estate. He explained that construction is to be finished by October, with the store to open its doors in early 2012. Of course, Whole Foods provided the light refreshments, which included wraps, natural sodas, organic potato chips, and bananas. The mayor of Edina, James Hovall, also spoke and said that the city sees this as both a food and financial opportunity, as he believes it will spur development in the area.

This will be a Whole Foods in 2012.

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Whole Foods is simultaneously developing a store in Minnetonka. The company has been keeping close tabs on Edina for over 10 years but hadn't been able to find the appropriate spot. Now, the old Storables and Thomasville Furniture shops have been fully demolished and construction will begin where they once stood. Whole Foods is an Austin-based company that started with one store about 30 years ago and boasted $8 billion in sales in the fiscal year that ended in September 2009. The Byerly's at 7171 France Avenue will need to prepare for some stiff competition come 2012.