Last updated on June 28th, 2023 at 05:04 pm
Whole Foods Market opened a 47,000-square-foot store June 28 at 7130 12th St. NW in Washington, D.C.
Part of the historic Walter Reed development, the store’s design showcases new colors and finishes to blend with the architecture of the old army hospital. The new location’s product assortment features more than 800 local items from across the greater D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, sourced with the help of Daniela D’Ambrosio, local forager for Whole Foods Market’s Mid-Atlantic Region.
“We’re thrilled to open our doors in the historic Walter Reed neighborhood,” Donovan Morris, store team leader for Whole Foods Market, said in a statement.
“I feel privileged to help bring Whole Foods Market’s knowledgeable team members, high quality standards for food and hand-picked selection of local products to a neighborhood and community which has held a special place in my heart since childhood.”
Features of the Washington, D.C. store include:
- The specialty department’s local items include artisan crackers from Firehook, goat and cow’s milk cheeses from FireFly Farms and fresh pastas from La Pasta. The cheese counter is overseen by a certified cheese professional who can offer recommendations for any occasion and create custom boards.
- A full-service seafood counter featuring jumbo lump crab cakes, lobster rolls and seasoned and marinated fillets. Local options include smoked salmon from Ivy City Smokehouse, Maryland crabmeat from M. Clayton Seafood Co. and oysters and condiments from Rappahannock Oyster Co.
- A meat counter with butchers available to cut steaks and poultry to order. Features include in-house dry aged beef and made-in-house pork, chicken and lamb sausages. Local options include chicken from Bell & Evans, turkey from Koch’s Turkey Farm and pork from Pennbrook Acres Farms.
- A large selection of more than 250 craft beers with local options, such as D.C. Brau Brewing, Aslin Beer Co. and Right Proper Brewing Co.
- Bakery department offering made-in-house bread and other items, such as Whole Foods Market’s Berry Chantilly Cake and brown butter cookies. Local offerings include cookies and pies from Whisked by Jenna and cake slices from Sweet & Natural.
During opening day ceremonies, the grocer announced that local supplier Dress It Up Dressing is the newest recipient of the Local Producer Loan Program, receiving a $150,000 low-interest loan from Whole Foods Market to grow its operations and support its recent expansion to all Whole Foods Market stores nationwide.
Whole Foods Market has donated to D.C. Food Project, which provides food during the school day, weekends and holiday breaks to families in need; Real Food for Kids, which works to increase access to healthy foods in the D.C. school system; and to Food Rescue D.C., an organization that recovers food from grocery stores and restaurants and distributes to social service partners.
Whole Foods Market will also donate meals to food rescue and redistribution programs across the D.C. area by working with Food Donation Connection.
