The Cult of The Gourmet Grocery Stores

Running akin to the whole green movement is the issue of gourmet and organic food stores as more Whole Foods and Fresh & Easy stores stand to compete against traditional grocery stores.

Whole Foods opened a two-story store in Pasadena in early November deemed the largest Whole Foods west of the Rocky Mountains. Tesco also intends to roll out its Fresh & Easy brand with six Southern California openings also in November followed by 75 more store openings in 2008.

However, what separates these gourmet grocers from the traditional Ralph's or Albertsons remains to be seen as the issue becomes more about branding and a lifestyle concept, than it does about any sort of "healthy" or "organic" label we attach to what we put in our mouths.

The Whole Foods store in Pasadena comes with the traditional foods one can find at any other Whole Foods along with a massage room, wine lounge and fresh jam and jelly counter. Massage room in a grocery store? It seems like a far stretch, but then the decision to offer such a service in a place where we get our food is also symbolic of the direction this new generation of grocers would like to take the public.

That direction would be more towards an actual brand - and it's a luxurious one at that. Anyone can get jam at a regular grocery store, but the appeal is obviously buying it fresh from a counter. It's new and not something we normally do, and perhaps that is what Whole Foods is banking on to get more shoppers in its stores. The Pasadena store will also have a seafood counter which serves shrimp cocktail and cerviche. Anyone can purchase shrimp at a Ralph's and then go about their business making their own shrimp cocktail, but the new generation of grocery stores is selling convenience attached to a glossier package.

Tesco is also trying to sell its own stamp on a more luxurious grocery shopping experience by selling the idea of fresh and convenience in its express Fresh & Easy stores. The success of these stores has yet to manifest as it's still a relatively new concept in Southern California.

The Phoenix, Az.-based Sprouts Farmers Market is set to open a store in Irvine with two more planned in Tustin and Seal Beach. Again, the concept is fresh and somehow inherently better and healthier than what consumers see in their regular grocery stores.

The only question is whether there is truth in that sales pitch. And traditional grocery stores are hardly shaking over their newfound competition since after all, do most of us really care that much about where we're buying? As it is, there is hardly any customer loyalty when it comes down to shopping between the major grocery chains. As consumers, we just want convenience. No one views a grocery store in the same way we do a store in a shopping mall.

Thus, whether "organic" and "fresh" will really win over the consumer, is the same question of whether it is better to buy name brand clothing vs. a no name brand. It comes down to how brainwashed the consumer is in believing the brand rather than a careful study of the individual product.