By Tanya Caldwell
NYT Institute

NEW ORLEANS – Every morning for about three years, Geoff Douville visited Whole Foods Market to get his favorite breakfast: an oatmeal raisin cookie and a small cup of medium-roasted, fair-ground coffee.

But on Wednesday, there were no cookies and coffee for Douville. There hasn’t been for nearly a month now. And there’s no telling if or when he’ll ever be able to buy those things from the grocer on the corner of Esplanade Avenue and Mystery Street again.

All that remains is a sign on the storefront window:

“This neighborhood has been fantastic, funny, crazy, caring and fun. We’re grateful to everyone who made this one of the best experiences of our lives.”

In short: We’re closed.

“It’s knocked a hole in my diet,” said Douville, 39. “I haven’t made the adjustment yet.”

Things have changed since the Esplanade Avenue Whole Foods Market closed down on April 20. All that remains are a couple of empty crates around the back of the building and some large coolers that were used to keep its organic foods fresh.

Katina Caldwell, who works at the bakery next door, said the neighborhood is a tight-knit community. The loss wouldn’t have been so rough if the store was in an urban area like New York City, she said.

“It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal,” she said. “I guess they felt like this was their store.”

Since the closing of the store, business at the bakery and other shops along Esplanade has been slow, Caldwell said.

“They were very, very upset when the store closed.”

But the store just wasn’t meeting the company’s expectations anymore, said Whole Foods Market spokesman Scott Simons.

“We didn’t want to move that store,” Simons said. “There would be no reason if the sales were what they needed to be.”

The fate of the empty building on Esplanade is still undecided. Two bidding grocery companies – Lakeview Fine Foods and Matassa’s Market – want to take over. They’re scheduled to meet with the public at a hearing Thursday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Cabrini High School, 1400 Moss St.

Simons said both companies are contractually acceptable. He said the public’s say will be a big factor for the store’s future.

“We just have a long-standing relationship with the community and we really wanted to make sure they were served,” Simons said. “Community feedback is really going to weigh heavily on the final decision.”

Esplanade’s other businesses just hope the change won’t take away its longtime customers.

“I’m a little nervous, just a little,” said Karen Terranova, whose husband, Benny, owns the 80-year-old, family-owned Terranova Grocery. “We get nervous every single time somebody comes.”

Terranova, 46, has posted green fliers in the bakery and other shops along Esplanade, asking the residents what organic foods they need so Terranova Grocers can sell them to its neighbors. She said she’s hoping whatever company takes over will decide to keep the store a source for organic foods so it won’t directly compete with her store.

But Simons said the two companies vying for the store would be conventional grocery stores.

“They’re both open to carrying more organic foods, if that’s what the community wants,” Simons said.

Terranova said she’d be at Thursday’s meeting.

About five miles away in Metairie, a new grocery store was booming. Wednesday was the grand opening of the Whole Foods Market on Veterans Boulevard and the place was packed. People driving Lexuses, a Mercedes and other cars beeped their horns and crammed their way in and out of the parking lot and the surrounding streets. They parked behind the store in the loading dock and down the street at the mechanic shops.

Inside, the new store boasts a full-service, sit-in restaurant; a sushi station; two salad bars and more. Customers were enjoying samples as they shopped, from hand soaps to three-milk cake.

It’s bigger and better here, if you ask John Lacarviere, who worked at the Esplanade store for almost two years.

“It’s the same (community) feeling, but there’s just more of it,” he said.

Simons said Whole Foods relocated to improve advancement opportunities as well as sales.

“It wasn’t happening in Esplanade,” he said. “Esplanade had about 65 to 75 team members. The new store has about 275 members. That’s many more job opportunities, for team members and for management.”

Back at Esplanade Avenue and Mystery Street, Douville is still looking for a decent place to buy a cookie. He said he’s not going to the new, larger store on Veterans Boulevard.

“The greatest thing was that it was a local store,” he said. “It’s a drag that you’re losing a store for some corporate box being put up in Metairie.”

Until something new opens up at the corner market, Douville said he’ll start going to the other shops on Esplanade.