Whole Foods Market opens in Boise

CREATED Nov. 14, 2012

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We've heard about it for months and now it's here: Idaho's first Whole Foods Market has opened in Treasure Valley, and brought its unique business brand to Boise.

Just minutes before opening there was a last minute scramble of wiping down counters, stocking shelves, filling containers, sweeping floors and placing product.

Photos of the Whole Food opening

Then when the doors officially opened, some people that walked in were so happy they couldn't contain themselves.

"I'm so excited to have whole foods here, we've been waiting for a year,” said a shopper.

The store was immediately transformed and filled with excited shoppers.

“I love everything, I love that I don't have to read labels anymore. I love the variety,” said Audrey Smith, a local shopper.

For people that haven't been inside a Whole Foods, it’s obvious when you look around that there isn't a lot of packaged and processed food.

“They have all natural products, not always organic, but, you don't have to worry about all the artificial preservatives and the added ingredients that make it unhealthy,” said Smith.

In addition to natural food, the company also tries to work with local vendors, farms and producers.

“We want to be able to partner with our local food vendors, which we've been doing for months now. Last nine ten months reached out to farms and food producers to try and to get them into the store,” said Tyson Strople, associate store team leader.

The store also regularly donates a percentage of sales to local charity.

Throughout the year we do four or five percent days, where we partner with non-profits that share our core values, and we donate that portion of proceeds to them,” said Strople.

While customers love their community attitude, they say it's the food that'll bring them back.

A lot of people complimented the quality of the grocer.

But if you go to the Whole Foods Market at Broadway and Front, keep in mind, your grocery bill is also going to be a little higher than at your typical grocer.