The Balllard News-Tribune was granted an exclusive sneak peek inside the new Interbay Whole Foods, which will focus largely on catering to Ballard, Interbay and Magnolia commuters.

The newest location of the upscale grocery chain is scheduled to open on Tuesday, Oct. 13, a process that took nearly six years to complete, said store Team Leader Kerri Hunsley.

The project was pushed back further last year when developers TRF Pacific filed a lawsuit against Whole Foods after the company announced it wanted to downsize the store and delay its opening until late 2009.

"It was a bit of a mess, actually, but we were able to resolve it fairly swiftly," said Vicki Foley, a spokesperson for Whole Foods in the Northwest region, about the lawsuit.

Dozens of the store's 140 employees were bustling around the still-unfinished store on Oct. 8 stocking shelves and testing deli recipes.

"It's all hands on deck," said Foley.

Some of the employees live in the Ballard area, said Foley, and several have transferred from the other Seattle Whole Foods Market stores.

The market boasts typical Whole Foods features: a specialty food section with assorted cheeses, wines and baked goods, a pizzeria, salad bar, a Kombucha tea bar and full-service cafe.

Foley said the products Whole Foods uses in its deli, which are free from artificial flavor and coloring, set them apart from other large-scale grocers.

"It's a clean product," she said.

A community room, offering free Wi-Fi, will host public happy hours that will serve beer and wine offered in the store, as well as cooking classes.

This location in particular is heavily focused on "restaurant quality grab-and-go" items, because 15th Avenue West is one of the busiest streets in the city, carrying thousands of commuters each day, said Foley.

"It's a pretty big focus for this store," she said. "I think they've tried to bring a sense of the neighborhood to the store."

Foley noted that much of the signage is made from reclaimed wood, meant to capture the essence of boat docks prominent in the Pacific Northwest and in the immediate area.

The market is located at 2001 15th Ave. W. in the Interbay Urban Center. Other businesses already operating there include Pete's Coffee and Tea, Subway, Magic Dragon Chinese Eatery and Interbay Cleaners.

A grand opening event will be held at the market with a bread-breaking ceremony on Oct. 13 at 8 a.m. The first 200 customers will receive a FEED 100 reusable shopping bag. The bags are usually sold for $10 each and proceeds go to feeding hungry children in Ruwanda.

The Interbay Whole Foods will be the fifth location in the Seattle area and the sixth in the state.



Whole Foods also opened a store in Vancouver, B.C. this past April and another in Portland about a year ago. There are plans to open another Portland location at the start of 2010.

Whole Foods is also in negotiations to open a store in West Seattle, but that project has been stalled for the past two years, pending lawsuits. Developers for that project have changed hands a few times, but Foley said the company is hopeful to open that location in late 2010.