Downtown San Diego residents finally have a full-service grocery option beyond a decades-old Ralphs, as Whole Foods Market opened a new 45,400-square-foot store on September 23 at 201 W. A Street, inside the ground floor and mezzanine of a 34-story residential tower called The Torrey. The store is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and stocks everything from a fishmonger-staffed seafood counter to a sushi bar rolled fresh daily by Kikka Sushi.
The opening caps a roughly decade-long effort by Whole Foods to plant a flag downtown. About a decade ago, the grocer agreed to locate at a 7th and Market office development, but Whole Foods pulled out after repeated delays, according to Times of San Diego. This time, the grocer landed inside The Torrey, a tower developed by Holland Partner Group at Front and A streets, at the crosshairs of Cortez Hill and the Core-Columbia District, per the same outlet.
Until now, downtown's rapid residential growth had outpaced its grocery options. Full-service supermarkets have been scarce relative to the neighborhood's population boom, with downtown chain grocers including Ralphs at 1st Avenue and G Street, Grocery Outlet, Albertsons, and Smart & Final, according to SanDiegoVille.
Built Into the Tower From the Ground Up
Holland Partner Group didn't just lease space to Whole Foods — the developer custom-designed the building around the grocer, including a dedicated two-story subterranean parking garage for shoppers beneath the store, with six levels of residential parking wrapped in apartments above it, according to Pacific Coast Commercial. The space was turned over at the end of last year, and work was underway ahead of this week's opening.
Beer, Wine and More Than 1,500 Local Products
The store's beverage department carries spirits, more than 500 wines, and over 330 craft beers, including products from 40 local breweries and 110 local wineries.
The new store features California-based sourcing and over 1,500 local items, a selection directed by Patrick Wyman, Whole Foods' Forager for Local & Emerging Brands, according to WhatNow. Local vendors on the shelves include dried fruit snacks from CHUZA, hot sauces from Cien Chiles, pasture-raised organic eggs from Happy Hens, and preserves from Jackie's Jams, the outlet reports. Produce comes from Dassi Family Farm, Kenter Canyon Farms, and Durst Organic Growers, all of it required to meet the company's pollinator health policy, and the store's food quality standards prohibit hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup, and more than 300 other ingredients, while body care products are held to a separate standard banning over 240 commonly used ingredients.
Shoppers will also find a bakery with bread baked fresh daily, a coffee and juice bar serving made-to-order drinks and smoothies, a specialty cheese and artisan producers section, and a full-service meat counter offering steaks and poultry cut to order from animals raised with no antibiotics ever. A prepared foods department rounds things out with hot food and salad bars, fresh pizza, gourmet sandwiches, and homemade-style meals. Grocery pickup will be available shortly after the opening, per Whole Foods Market, and customers can pay in-store using the Whole Foods Market or Amazon app; Prime members get weekly discounts on select products plus an additional 10% off hundreds of in-store sale items.
Opening-Day Donation and a Growing Regional Footprint
As part of the opening, Whole Foods provided a food donation and will provide a monetary donation to Porchlight Community Services, a Kearny Mesa-based organization founded in 2016 as a neighborhood porch food-rescue effort that now runs a client-choice food pantry, according to JustServe. Porchlight already makes regular surplus food pickups from local Whole Foods stores, and it previously received a refrigerated transport van through the company's Nourishing Our Neighborhoods program, which aims to help food rescue organizations move surplus food to areas facing the greatest need.
The downtown opening arrives amid a broader push across San Diego County, where Whole Foods is planning a new Encinitas store in part of the former Kohl's in Encinitas Marketplace, returning to the city after its former Pacific Station store closed in 2017, as part of a $10 million shopping center renovation. The chain is also planning a new Carmel Mountain Ranch location, adding to existing stores in the San Diego area, according to The Coast News. Whole Foods now counts four stores in the San Diego area and 95 across California.
