Whole Foods Market
"Why does that one Whole Foods have a fork stuck in its roof?" That was the burning question a friend who grew up in Newton Highlands had for me when we started talking about supermarkets. Well, I don't know, but is it truly a fork if there's no handle? A Google search for "can you have a fork without a handle" brings up not a whole lot of helpful results. Google's generally useless AI overview says that yes, you can have a handleless fork for a "touch of elegance," and if you click on the source for that particular piece of wisdom, you will find yourself on a website with pictures of forklift trucks.
Okay. Seriously. What's going on at this Whole Foods? That's actually a tower sign or pylon, of the type very popular in the 1950s when this supermarket was constructed, which originally would've had the supermarket's name or logo at the top. The particular forklike design is nothing more than a cosmetic choice. Some were solid stucco or concrete, others were brick, and still others were simply a metal sign built into the roof of the store. And the store was constructed in the early 1950s by Purity Supreme, which stayed put for several decades, closing by the early 1990s. By 1997, it was an independent natural food store called Nature's Heartland (part of a local chain owned by the founder of Purity), then by 2000, it was a Whole Foods-owned Bread & Circus. Bread & Circus rebranded to Whole Foods in 2003.
The supermarket was originally about 15,000 square feet and is now just under 30,000 square feet after several expansions. You enter to the produce department on the right side of the store, with meat and seafood on the back wall. HABA is in the first aisle, frozen runs roughly up the middle of the store, and dairy is in the back-left corner. The remainder of the service departments are on the left side of the store, with deli/prepared foods, cheese, and bakery in a large grand aisle-type setup.
This is a pleasant store and it seemed busy, but it also (like several of the other Whole Foods around Boston) feels on the older side. I think many of these converted Bread & Circus locations probably were redone right when they switched from Bread & Circus to Whole Foods and then haven't gotten a lot of work since. They're not in bad shape -- they're definitely maintained well -- but they don't feel as new as many Whole Foods do.
Part of that is that these stores tend to be smaller, and have low(ish) drop ceilings. Many also have tile flooring or something else like this wood laminate flooring, something we don't see much in Whole Foods. Newer stores tend to have open ceilings and polished concrete floors.
The decor here is pleasant and understated, but many newer stores have bolder, brighter decor. Notice the exposed ceiling here at the back, and it continues along the back wall and then across the last aisle.
HABA in the first aisle, with the rest of the grocery aisles following. You can see here that the flooring is in decent shape, but old, and has been patched. I believe the green stripes are intentional, but the white/beige is not.
Newer ceiling on the left side of the store, in the expansion...
And you can tell, too, that the original building has been expanded, with several half-walls or full walls like you can see below.
And the ceiling is fully open on the left side where prepared foods, cheese, deli, and bakery are.
I can't find too many older pictures of this store online, and this decor was present in the oldest picture I could find -- 2016. I doubt it's the original decor from Whole Foods' opening in 2003, but it's possible.
Bakery is in the front-left corner of the store.
And a look at the front-end, with part of the ceiling exposed here too...
Opened: 2003
Owner: Amazon
Previous Tenants: Purity Supreme (early 1950s-early 1990s) > Nature's Heartland (open by 1997, closed by 2000) > Bread & Circus (opened by 2000, converted to Whole Foods in 2003)
Cooperative: none
Location: 647 Washington St, Newtonville, MA
Photographed: December 17, 2022
You can tell this is an older building, too, because that appears to be wooden beams that are painted, forming the original building's ceiling. You'll see the difference in the newer area, which has the metal ceiling trusses more commonly seen in stores with open ceilings.
I'm glad to see a longtime supermarket like this continue to be a supermarket, and also nice to see that Whole Foods is taking care of it well. It would be sad if it had become a CVS or something, which too many other stores to count have done. Don't miss Marty's just next door here, and that's a wrap on Newton. Have a great weekend!
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