Megan H.
Yelp
This WF is a bummer. Some the new checkout clerks are great - well kempt, focused, and friendly. Others seem oblivious to the fact that they are supposed to be providing customer service. They take up entire halves of aisles to refill shelves and are unclear on what certain items are - I even had the butcher tell me how organic chicken is the same as unorganic, which seems off-brand, to say the least.
The hot bar..is a hot mess.
The WF breakfast oatmeal bar has been a morning staple and ritual for me in many places I have lived. Unfortunately, at the WF the oatmeal bar is horrendous. It's barely up and running by 8:45, but don't get too excited, all you'll find is dry, brittle oatmeal, and toppings that double for the salad bar (no fresh berries, chia seeds, or dried fruits). Forget any of the other items - the salads look sad and the toppings are inconsistent, and the other random items always look like leftovers and never quite go together.
The prepared foods are also strange. No burrito bar. Not sure if there's a deli. The sushi never has enough chopsticks and soy sauce. The "bakery" always seems stale beyond repair - and often with flies in the cases (half of one plexi glass case door has been missing for months). The pizza always seems like someone just left half of their pizza there. I confusingly asked the guy if I could order a pizza and he was like "oh we don't really do pizza but I could make you one (as I gaze even more confused at the slices of pizza on the counter wondering where they came from)"...I asked for a menu and he told me they didn't have one and I could just ask him for the toppings I wanted ...leading to me just listing things that sound like they go on pizza and after him replying they didn't have 80% of the items, leaving.
The thing is, I love WF. I used to work there. In the past, I have regularly opted to eat there instead of at a restaurant or at home. I own a house near this one, and enjoy the thought that my home value will probably increase just because of my proximity to WF.
However, this WF needs a major reality check. It's basically an Albertson's with mood lighting. Please fix your hot bar and have it open when you open. Please train your employees (When I worked at WF, my training was more intense than my driver's license and lifeguard certification classes combined). Please offer delicious foods I can't find anywhere else. I know you can do it. I believe.
I hope we can make things right between us, and know it's not too late. But your are going to need to look inside yourself (literally look inside the store and see how the credit card banners and severely limited free range, fermented, and local options are hurting US) and do the hard work to get yourself back to where you were a few years ago. I hope there's an us again, but right now, I just don't know.