Whole Foods at the Village at Park Royal

We have not had a great summer. For retailers whose merchandise is seasonal, I would guess this summer has been a disaster. My husband had to get his car serviced a few weeks ago, and even though we live in White Rock...we make the trip to West Van, to a car dealership that my husband considers one of the best in customer service, and quality...Park Shore Motors. One of the nice things about getting the car serviced in West Van, is the free shuttle service from the dealership. We asked to be taken to The Village at Park Royal, to have lunch, and arranged to be picked up in about an hour and a half.

After lunch, we had a wander around, and noticed a nice sized crowd, milling around the entrance to the Whole Foods. It was a great scene, with little kids wading in a fountain, and people lounging on benches eating lunch, or enjoying a coffee and a snack I noticed a BBQ set up, with a small line of people purchasing hot dogs and pop, and also noticed that the BBQ belonged to Whole Foods. There was a cute little chalk board with a charming image of a patio lantern that simply said " Take it Outside ". It looked like people were doing just that! How often do you see retailers making the effort to COME to their customers...instead of waiting for their customers to walk in their front doors and COME to them? This was an ordinary day. It wasn't a special occasion, or a civic holiday. Why would Whole Foods go to the trouble to fire up a BBQ, set up a sign, and pay a staff member to sell hot dogs and pop? I believe they were just being neighbourly...and showing an interest in their customers, AND their community. Small gestures like this, go a long way to building customer loyalty, and that elusive 'feel good' feeling. Judging by the prices, they couldn't have been turning a great profit. Besides that, the inside of the store had much more variety, and higher priced goods to entice their customers. I believe it was their way of saying, hey folks, we realize it hasn't been a great season, but today is a sunny day, and we would love to offer you a childhood favorite choice for lunch...a good old hot dog.
This kind of nostalgia, and neighbourliness was a home run! The smell of hot dogs on the BBQ brings back all sorts of memories, no matter what your age, or income level, or nationality. I believe that Whole Foods is a retailer that gets it. This small amount of effort is sure to pay big rewards. All because of a hot dog...