Plum Market in Old Town - 1233 North Wells

I visited the new Plum Market Grocery store on Wells today on the 4th of July and thought it was an impressive store. I would say they are gearing toward the Whole Foods organic buyer in a higher income class. What impressed me was the prices on some shelf items where cheaper than whole foods, Dominick's, Mariano's, etc... I bought the following which I don't think I have seen at these price points in a long time:

What I bought and liked the price points:
Colavita extra Virgin Olive Oil 34Oz on sale for $8.99 (regular $18)
San Pellegrino Mineral Water 750 mL on sale for $1 (regular $2.29)
Good Health Avocado Oil Potato Chips 5 oz bag on sale for $0.99 (regular $3.50)
Twinings Earl Grey Tea @ 12ct package on sale for $1.66 (regular $2.99)

What I didn't like:
Price on Fruits, vegetables, meat and prepared food items where very high. I would say the fruits and veggies where more expensive to a comparable Whole Foods.

Plum Market
1233 North Wells,
Chicago, Illinois
http://www.plummarket.com/

https://www.facebook.com/PlumMarketChicago

Has anyone else visited the new Plum Market store and what are your thoughts?

Here's a really bourgeois question: Do they have free parking?

riddlemay wrote:Here's a really bourgeois question: Do they have free parking?

I read somewhere that customers get one hour free parking in the garage, but I just hoofed it there so I don't have first hand knowledge.

riddlemay wrote:Here's a really bourgeois question: Do they have free parking?

Yes they have 1 hour free parking in a garage going to the 2nd floor which is attached to the Plum MArket buidling. MAke sure to take the parking ticket with you into the store to get it validated at checkout or you will have to pay the parking rate.

Since I live relatively nearby, I just stopped in and was surprised at how much of a Whole Foods clone they were in terms of layout, brands and displays. They did have some good deals on items I buy but pricing was definitely a mixed bag if the meats I bought are good, it will be a handier location for me than the nearest WF. I did like their liquor selection and pricing for some of the local brands - worth checking if you're buying alcohol.

I did sign up for their rewards card as well - interested to see if that pays off.

I skipped the Rewards card, although it's pretty easy to get to $500 to get your whopping $10 voucher.

That said, I think I'm in love.

There's a reason that it feels like WFM. It's a couple of brothers who had their family's grocer purchased by WFM and then stayed on as employees of the market.

Unlike WFM, I spotted Coke Zero & Cherry Coke Zero (I haven't stepped food in WFM in years so I don't know if they currently carry Coke Zero. ).

The store has some high prices on regular items, $7 + for 5 lbs of KA AP flour for example, but then there were some great prices like $3.99/qt. of Traders Point Creamery's Whole Milk & $4.99/lb for Plugara unsalted butter. They also had my preferred De-alcoholized wines by Ariel. Additionally, there were these items of interest to me.

Buffalo Milk Butter


Verjus



A variety of Sugars, including coconut palm & pearl



And a bonus from the cashier, and no I don't know why she gave it to me but she did.


Score!


Additionally, I spied baguettes from Red Hen Bakery; bacon donuts (for sample) from Glazed & Infused; proscuitto from Parma (same price/lb as Fresh Farms last Monday); and some great cheeses with prices lower than I've seen anywhere in years.

The wine selections seemed to get a bigger footprint than the produce department. The produce department seemed serviceable.

Trying to decide if I'm going back tonight or tomorrow.
They don't have enough bike racks, but I already asked about that and I hope they correct it soon.


Bonus: There is an Intelligentsia Coffee Bar that features GNR Floriole's baked goods.

They do have some mighty nice surprises - like the See's Candy counter which I carefully did not visit as I'm really trying to stop my carb addiction - though I caved on the taste of Zingerman's Dark Chocolate gelato (but took the smallest sample ... really!)

edited to note that while I prefer several other confectioners (like Burdick's up in NH ... sigh) I am a real sucker for See's mini hard candies in butterscotch and chocolate .

Anyone notice if they carry zingermans pimento cheese?

pairs4life wrote:Unlike WFM, I spotted Coke Zero & Cherry Coke Zero (I haven't stepped food in WFM in years so I don't know if they currently carry Coke Zero. ).

This sort of thing could make Plum Market an interesting hybrid. While I'm not a purchaser of Coke, many's the time I've been in Whole Foods with one ordinary thing on my shopping list along with all the not-ordinary things, and felt like saying, "Fer chrissakes, who do I have to **** to get a friggin' [Unit of Ordinary Mainstream Product] around here?" (I mean, I get it's not Whole Foods' mission to have everything, but sometimes one-stop shopping is nice.)

riddlemay wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Unlike WFM, I spotted Coke Zero & Cherry Coke Zero (I haven't stepped food in WFM in years so I don't know if they currently carry Coke Zero. ).

This sort of thing could make Plum Market an interesting hybrid. While I'm not a purchaser of Coke, many's the time I've been in Whole Foods with one ordinary thing on my shopping list along with all the not-ordinary things, and felt like saying, "Fer chrissakes, who do I have to **** to get a friggin' [Unit of Ordinary Mainstream Product] around here?" (I mean, I get it's not Whole Foods' mission to have everything, but sometimes one-stop shopping is nice.)

I don't think I saw any Frito-Lays products on the chip aisle, but yes I understand what you mean. And for me, seeing diet cherry coke zero told me just how far they were willing to go to be a 1-stop-shop.

Had a bit of an issue here recently so I emailed them regarding it. No response speaks volumes. Plenty of other places to spend my $.

I hadn't gone back since they first opened and this visit there seemed to be fewer sales at least of use to me - in fact some items that I'd normally buy at Treasure Island were considerably more. Left a bit of a bad taste after my initial enthusiasm. I think I'll stick to my usual rotation of TI with Whole Foods as my indulgence and organic source for items I can't buy at GCM.

When I saw elephant garlic that I needed for a dinner I was doing priced @ $5.99 I reluctantly bought it knowing it was high (or they were when they priced it). Because they didn't have a few other items I needed, I left and went to finish my shopping @ Dominicks, where 15 mins later I saw the identical product for $2.99. I wrote, they ignored, I'm done. Simple as common courtesy.