Now Open: Whole Foods Venice

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In celebration of Whole Foods opening at Lincoln and Rose, Yo! Venice! creates a list of its assets: 1) All-important wine bar with 2-ounce wine tastings from $3-$9; 2) Good wine selection with 10% off six bottles or more; 3) Ample hot food choices, including a taqueria; 4) Cold food choices which looks pretty standard for WF; 5) Lots of outdoor and indoor seating; 6) "Local Artisan Corner," featuring Venice artist Bryan Scheller; 7) "Community Support Days"—percentage of sales goes to Venice non-profit; 8) and "Value Tours," where you're given tips to shop healthily on a budget. Today, there are parking attendants, but it's unclear whether they'll be around post-opening.

From a tipster, we get images (above) and hear of the opening day festivities: "Everything from soup to nutcases. What a motley assemblage of Venice and Santa Monica types, all with grins on their faces that Whole Foods had the chutzpah to take on the corner of Rose and Lincoln and actually pull it off. Arugula, anyone?"
· Whole Foods Grand Opening Today [Yo! Venice!]
· Whole Foods Venice Opening Bash [Racked]
· Storecasting: Whole Foods in Venice [Racked]