DENVER (Oct. 16, 2017) – Whole Foods Market will open its Union Station location in Denver, located at 1701 Wewatta Street, Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 9 a.m. The 50,000-square foot flagship is Whole Foods Market’s first downtown Denver store and the 21st in the state. The store will employ 210 team members and bring 135 new jobs to the city.
Customers and diners at Whole Foods Market Union Station will find downtown’s largest culinary selection under one roof with the store’s expanded selection of seasonal, chef-driven cuisine made with the highest quality natural and organic ingredients. The store will offer extensive grab-and-go options for busy professionals on their lunch breaks, commuters on their way home or to the airport, and families looking for quick, healthy dinner options. In addition to hot entrée, soup and salad bars, Whole Foods Market Union Station will feature exclusive first time offerings including a mac and cheese bar, and new chef-inspired entrees highlighting Korean, Peruvian and Spanish cuisines with recipes like Gochujang Chicken Wings, Beef Bulgogi, Peruvian Lomo Salteado and Pulpo Gallego. The store will offer a variety of poke, noodle and rice bowls from Kikka Sushi. For a customized salad experience, the store will feature an in-house “salad chopper” to toss and chop salad components to order for customers.
Whole Foods Market Union Station will boast a variety of breakfast options including an express coffee bar, and both dairy and vegan overnight oats with flavorful toppings including “super-berry” and maple. Customers will have the opportunity to self-serve and blend their own fresh juice concoctions at a 12-tap juice bar; the juice bar will also feature a full menu of smoothies and sparkling shrubs in flavors like Charcoal Lemonade, Apple Ginger Sage and Cherry Turmeric.
Award-winning chefs Alex Seidel, Matt Vawter, Keegan Gerhard and Lisa Bailey of Mercantile and D-Bar will continue to grow their partnership with the retailer by expanding their successful Füdmill pastry line to include a variety of new croissants. The chefs have also created eight exclusive new focaccia offerings available only at the Union Station location.
The store will feature the second birdcall restaurant in Denver as a standalone, full-service “Friends of Whole Foods Market” venue. Created by the founders of Park Burger, birdcall will serve southern-inspired fried chicken sandwiches, salads, milkshakes, breakfast biscuits, beer and wine with over 20 local beers on tap. The birdcall outpost marks the first time a Colorado Whole Foods Market location has sold beer or wine inside the store. In addition to birdcall, award-winning Allegro Coffee Roasters will feature expanded artisanal coffee offerings like those found at their Tennyson Street location.
Today, Whole Foods Market Union Station also announces a new partnership with Denver-based U Baron Group, which owns and runs Izzio Bakery and Etai’s Bakery Café. The U Baron Group will open a satellite location inside the store under the Tel Aviv Street Food banner as the store’s second “Friends of Whole Foods Market” venue. TLV Street Food is a return to the bakery’s roots and will focus on Israeli-style pita sandwiches inspired by the cuisines of Israel. Popular dishes like Cauliflower with Labneh and Green Harissa are delivered in pitas, and the TLV Shawarma and Green Falafel pita sandwich offers a fresh, modern take on traditional recipes.
Customers visiting the store will also find a hundred-pound tower of cheese with selections hand-cut to order by American Cheese Society’s Certified Cheese Professionals on staff.
Located in close proximity to Denver’s baseball, basketball and football stadiums, sports fans visiting the store will find a wide variety of game day offerings including local grass-fed beef from Crystal River Ranch, and made-in-house duck, pork and beef sausages for tailgate grilling. Seafood lovers will savor the store’s fresh poke and ceviche bar. To celebrate the new location, fishmongers will host a Pike’s Place-inspired market on opening weekend.
In the Body Care department, customers will find a national test market boutique from Pacha Soap Company—a mission-driven body care company. Pacha is nationally celebrated for its beautifully scented soaps, bath salts and bath bombs and has donated over 1.2MM bars of soap, drilled clean water wells serving 2,600 people, provided hand washing education to 75,000 children, and created 235 full-time jobs since its founding.
The store will be home to 75 Amazon lockers where customers can elect to conveniently and safely ship and pick up packages and groceries just in time for the holidays.
Opening day festivities will begin at 8:45 a.m. with door prizes and giveaways. For information about the celebration, fans can follow the store on Instagram @wholefoodsco.
Customers can access the store through a variety of convenient transportation options, including the RTD Union Station light rail and bus stops, located one block from the store entrance. The store includes a 165-space covered parking garage and free validated parking for customers, plus reserved spots for ride-share drivers, including Uber, Lyft, and taxi services. The garage entry is accessible from 17th and Wewatta.
