Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2009 > April > 22 > Entry
Your A-List: Best New Addition to Austin’s Retail Scene
Despite the lagging national economy, Austin still seems to be going pretty strong (right?). How else can you explain the wealth of new options for shopping that sprang up over the past year?
Newflower Farmers Market, winner with 25 percent of the vote, probably realized that they had a pretty good bet, opening an organic grocery in a town that falls over itself (commendably) for trying to promote a greener lifestyle. I haven’t made my way down south (strategic location, out of the shadow of Whole Foods and just far enough away from Central Market) to the location that opened in February of this year, so I will leave the details to our Addie Broyles, who wrote about Newflower in Food Matters.
[From Food Matters, 02/11/09]
Move over Whole Foods, Central Market, Sun Harvest and Wheatsville. There’s a new organic grocer in town.Newflower Farmers Market at William Cannon Drive and Manchaca Road in South Austin opens today. Newflower CEO Mike Gilliland, who in 2002 founded the Boulder, Colo.-based chain known as Sunflower Farmers Markets in five other Southwestern states, knows he’s entering a tough market where several other retailers already compete for green grocery dollars. Newflower takes an approach similar to Trader Joe’s, the discount natural grocer that has yet to put a store in Central Texas: “Our goal was to take elements of Trader Joe’s — low prices and unusual products — and expand it,” says Gilliland, who is in Austin this week to open the store (the first Texas one opened in Plano in November).
Produce takes up a third of the store, he said during a sneak preview on Monday. Despite the name, the store isn’t selling much produce from local farmers — yet. Look for in-season produce from local sources later in the year, Gilliland says, because “local is the new organic.”
The store, set up with lower shelves that make the space seem larger than its 26,000 square feet, touts everyday specials such as 3 for $10 wines and low prices on 750 products carrying Newflower’s house-brand label of “Serious Food…Silly Prices.” It will offer sushi and pre-made deli items to-go, an olive bar, potted herbs, freshly baked goods and organic and natural meat, including Harris Ranch beef. Newflower’s simplicity is refreshing, but don’t expect a real farmers’ market. 6920 Manchaca Road, 687-2204. Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
Others receiving votes
- Mellow Johnny’s, 20 percent
- Patagonia, 15 percent
- Breakaway Records, 10 percent
- Lululemon, 6 percent
- Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland, 5 percent
- Cornucopia, 5 percent
- Domy Books, 4 percent
- Beyond Tradition, 3 percent
- Mode, 2 percent
- Kirk, 2 percent
- Minx, 2 percent
- Bo Concept, 1 percent
- Ligne Roset Boutique, 1 percent
- Millipede, < 1 percent
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