Whole Foods’ Detroit Store Goes Local

DETROIT — Whole Foods Market held a vendor fair to find the best assortment of local foods for its first store here.

More than 70 producers applied to meet with buyers.

"We held a local vendor fair and advertised that we were looking for locally made products to stock the shelves of our new store — and the floodgates opened,” Stefanie Garcia, “Local Forager and Competitive Strategy Coordinator” at Whole Foods' Midwest Region, wrote in a blog posted on wholefoods.com.

Read more: Whole Foods Trims Prices in Detroit

The store opened this month with a key goal of sourcing as many locally produced products as possible from the Greater Detroit area, according to Garcia.

“I went to work trying to find the hidden gems that I knew were in the city,” said Garcia. “ At the end of it all we not only found gems, but pies, cookies, sauces, noodles, soap, coffee, tea and so much more.”

The store is designed to be an extension of the community, with elements likes recycled car hoods as café tabletops and Motown records as register lights, according to Garcia.