Whole Foods, Somerset Collection, And The Future Of Detroit.

Having spent the better part of two days debating on the Facebook wall of WDET's The Craig Fahle Show the fact that Detroit seems to be more concerned with assisting the "young professional" demographic then doing the things necessary to make this city viable in the future, I've come to certain realizations. It seems that the way the "Future of Detroit" debate is going to be handled is that opinions that don't fall lock-step in the line with the newest "hip" idea are instantly marginalized and called "negative." Now, I understand that people are desperate to see some sort of change or revival in this city. What I don't understand is that no one seems to be able to look beyond Midtown or Downtown, as if the city doesn't extend beyond those limited borders. Yesterday, in a sort of double pronged public relations move, the opening of a Whole Foods store in 2013 was announced on the same day of the opening of City Lofts. City Lofts, an Extension of the Troy, MI based Somerset Collection, is apparently some sort of attempt to bring the "exclusive" shopping experience of Oakland County's premiere retail destination to the heart of the city. Surprisingly enough, At it's original location in Troy there is a Whole Foods store a mile away. Setting aside my issues with a corporation that makes it's money by pretending to be "green" and "socially conscious", It doesn't seem to me that anyone has considered the ramifications of catering only to a small subset of the population without taking the rest of the people into account. I'm not going to say that the opening of a grocery store within the city limits is a bad idea, but at it's core is Whole Foods really a benefit to the city? I've heard the argument that they source locally grown food, which will benefit the growers who currently have few options other than the local farmers market and a few storefronts. In theory this is great, but what's the reality? As you can see in this article from the Portland, Maine based, The Bollard by author Stacy Mitchell, what a corporation says may, shockingly, not be one hundred percent true.

"Local food is “the foundation of [Whole Foods’] image, but it’s this lip service. They get the local products in, but they have no motivation to try to sell them,” said one vendor, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity given her ongoing business relationship with Whole Foods.

Her product adds to the store’s “local” image, but very little of it actually sells. The problem? Whole Foods has priced it almost 50 percent higher than other area retailers do. Customers are more inclined to choose the Whole Foods store-brand version, which has more prominent shelf space and a significantly lower price. 

"They put much more effort into promoting their own products," the vendor said. "It's not an account we see a big future with." 

Whole Foods Markup, 2007.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that a business is more concerned about it's own profits above the profits of others, that's how a business works. What's troubling is that Whole Foods sells itself not as a competitor, but as a beneficial part of the local economy. To me, this is the equivalent of smiling while you knife someone in the back. Most companies have figured out that the pseudo-socially conscious will flock to them if they offer the illusion of a zero personal impact way to "make a difference" by giving them your money, and Whole Foods is one of the best at it.  And speaking of money, I'll assume that most have you have been to a Whole Foods. Do you see a lot of items that are reasonably priced? I've heard so many arguments about the "food desert"status of Detroit and how we desperately need affordable fresh produce and other essentials, as have most people. Yesterday, during the discussion that was raging on Facebook it was stated  

"If we didn't have any stores around here, and were choosing which food store to bring in, then yes, Whole Foods wouldn't be the best option. Not by a long shot. But it's not the only option. Not even close" 

At what point did we all of the sudden have these innumerable options of where to shop? Last week people were unable to purchase food easily, this week everybody is doing just great? Whole Foods supporters can't have it both ways.  You can't say "We need Whole Foods because there's no affordable grocery stores" and "There are plenty of affordable grocery stores so why does a Whole Foods matter?" 


What this really comes down to is the people of Detroit. The people whose backs this city was built upon are suffering and the "young professionals" aren't concerned about them, simply because they seem to feel that this city is rightly theirs. Like the issue of there being people who already live here isn't something they should stop to think about as they bring their  failing suburbs into the heart of a city they abandoned years ago. There is a large population here that needs services, schools, healthcare, and numerous other things. All of those things are more important then tax breaks for Texas based corporate grocery stores, or High end stores that aren't realistic options for a large portion of the people that live here.


Maybe we should be having more conversations about that.