The newest Whole Foods Market store, opened last week in Sherman Oaks, Calif., has a definite California vibe as seen in its emphasis on local products from the state — all hand-picked by Local Forager for Whole Foods Market’s Southern Pacific Region, Elena Garcia.
In the produce and floral departments, shoppers can fill their baskets with such local favorites as apples from Cuyama Orchards, sweet potatoes from Valpredo Farms and orchids from Formosa Pacific Orchids.
From the store’s Land & Sea meat and seafood department, customers can choose from smoked salmon from Santa Barbara Smokehouse, organic beef from Eel River or free-range poultry from Mary’s Chickens.
The specialty department offers an array of cheese and wine selections. Local options include Burrata from Di Stefano Cheese, Spicy Gouda Dip from Spicy Mo’s and Genoa Salami from Gusto. The Sherman Oaks Whole Foods offers more than 600 beers and wines, including California favorites such as wine from Field Recordings, beer from Three Weavers Brewing and hard kombucha from June Shine.
In addition to its product assortment, the newest Whole Foods Market becomes the second in the chain of over 500 stores to feature parent company Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. Allowing customers to skip the checkout line, Just Walk Out uses overhead computer-vision cameras, weight sensors and deep-learning technology to detect merchandise that shoppers take from or return to shelves and track items selected in a virtual cart. At the store’s entry, customers are prompted to select Just Walk Out shopping or use the traditional checkout or self-checkout lanes.
Click on the gallery to see more highlights from the Sherman Oaks Whole Foods Market.
