Whole Foods comes to Monroe County

 

Whole Foods is building its first location in Monroe County. Construction has began after a lengthy court challenge nominally concerning traffic impact, an effort rumored to have been backed by Wegmans who stands as a primary competitor to the new Whole Foods, as their flagship store is a few hundred feet down the street.

That isn't to say concerns about traffic are unwarranted. Personally, as a member of traffic on this street several days of the week I can confidently say that several thousand cars pass through every days to the commercial area, nearby residential, and to get to the nearby on-ramp to I-590. Inviting more traffic invites more opportunities for traffic accidents, and this area of Brighton sees traffic incidents regularly. Anecdotally, I've had my worst motor vehicle accident on this street not far from the new construction.

Whole Foods has a reputation of selling organic food to more affluent neighborhoods. They were recently bought by Amazon in 2017 and have been slowly expanding at the national scale since. Wegmans remains a popular company in Rochester and remains one of Rochester's largest employers.

The New site will also have a Starbucks with a drive-thru. The brick structure in the above photo.


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