Sunflower Market Review

I know you might be thinking it's too early for a review, but this is a grocery store.  If my experience was overwhelmingly negative, I would have made few more visits before passing judgment (publicly); however, Sunflower Market seemed to have had a good opening strategy, because their debut today was relatively smooth (to an outsider).  But we're getting ahead of ourselves!

First of all, a note to anyone who might be thinking of reviewing Sunflower Market and taking pictures: they do not like picture-taking.  Although there is no posted sign saying you can't take pictures, I saw a manager accost and interrogate 2 girls who were openly taking lots of pictures.  Because I am much wiser and stealthier, and can smell members of upper management coming from 3 blocks away, I flew under the radar with picture-taking.  For awhile, I was being followed, but fortunately a high maintenance woman demanded to know why a particular flavor of Anne's Organic pasta boxes was missing, and I skated out.  At one point, a clatch of managers was standing around wondering aloud why were all of these people taking pictures in the store!?  Their theories started out based solely on conspiracy - it's someone from Wild Oats!! to the more practical - maybe they're people from the media?  I almost approached a manager with my card to let him know what I was doing there, but that goes against my tenet of obscurity, and you know how I eschew special treatment!

Okay, so how was the shopping?  The store is rather small and has nice lighting - bright without being harsh, a complaint I have with most grocery stores (I just hate that blue florescent lighting).  The produce section was a little smaller than I had expected but pretty comprehensive without being over the top.  You could definitely find most things you needed to make most American meals.  If you want banana leaves or fresh turmeric, you will still have to go to Whole Foods.  There is a walk-in cooler (and it's really cool, both literally and figuratively) where the greens and other vegetables are kept.  The staff in the produce department were very knowledgeable, happily pointing out all of the local produce to me when I asked.  Although their local selection is a little small now, I was told they are working to develop relationships with local farmers and local offerings will improve as they become rooted in the community.  I can forgive them that, as this is a bad time of year to try to develop new relationships with growers, when they are at the end of their season.  I could tell the guys in the produce department knew the importance of local produce.  I purchased organic red plums for $1.49 a pound, and organic bananas for $.69 a pound.

Walk-In Crisper, outside and inside:

There is a nice selection of cold beer, which features some of the beer snob favorites, such as Samuel Smiths, and there is a large selection of Columbus Brewing Company beer as well.  Wine selection was a little light, but this is a campus store, so I'm guessing they want to focus more heavily on beer at this time. 

There is no meat counter, but there are various packaged cuts of meat which were nice-looking; all meat is antibiotic and hormone free, seafood is either wild or responsibly farm raised, all those nice things we responsible eaters are always looking for.  Meats were not sourced locally.  All seafood is frozen, but sometimes it is nice to have those vacuum-sealed, individual fish portions for days when you want something healthy but are feeling lazy or you're just cooking for yourself.  I purchased 2 one-serving (4 ounce) packs of wild salmon for $1.99 each, which seems like a steal for a healthy lunch option (for the record, they thaw, under cold running water, in about 1/2 hour, so they make a nice quick meal).  I also purchased some Ice Cream from Woo City Ice Cream, which I had never hear of - it's an operation out of Wooster, Ohio which uses nice organic Amish milk and cream.  Of course, they'll never replace Jeni's, but it's nice to have a grocery store option.

The bakery section featured breads from Eleni Christina, which was nice (Mr. & Mrs. Rigsby were even milling about the store for the opening, supervising the sampling of their breads), but alas, no baguettes today, my favorite bread of theirs.  There are other breads from what seems to be the store brand, "Nature's Best."

Bakery case:

Coffee came from Green Mountain Roasters.  Unfortunately, there was a Green Mountain kiosk in one of the buildings where I went to college and I was so traumatized by their coffee I just can hardly look at the logo.  Sorry, Sunflower Market, you lost me there - you should have gone for our local favorite, Stauf's Coffee Roasters.  I'll have to bring that up the next time I am there.

There was a sushi counter which featured the standard California Rolls and other American palette-pleasing favorites.  A sample proved it to be, although boring, far better than the sushi at Whole Foods.  Which, despite being in a store with one of the best fish counters in the city, is really terrible (not rotten or unfresh or anything, just bad.  Bad rice or something).

The deli section featured pre-packaged meats - again, no deli counter or anything.  The olive bar was smaller than at Whole Foods, but contained the requisite flavors of olives along with cippolinis, sun dried tomatoes, and roasted red peppers.  Will have to discuss with them the possibility of adding my favorite little sweet peppedews.  The bar was in line with others in the city, at $8.99 a pound.  There are many varieties of hummus, as well as a small selection of prepared foods and a salad bar.  The cheese selection was pretty solid, given the size.  Although you won't find anything far out of the ordinary, one could choose a perfectly pleasing cheese plate from their offerings at a reasonable price. 

The frozen section featured many "healthy" standards, such as Amy's and Linda McCartney options, at prices relatively similar to others in the city.  The grocery section was similar, with the prices less than Whole Foods, but not quite as low as Trader Joe's. I did notice their tetrapak stocks, a pantry staple at Chez Widow, were about $1.50 higher than at either Whole Foods or Trader Joe's - I usually like to pay around $2 apiece for those, so I was disappointed to see some at $4.  Chips and snacks were definitely less expensive than Whole Foods, which is sure to please the college crowd.  There were a few nice surprises, such as this Portuguese tuna for only $2.69 (compare to about $5 at Whole Foods):

The store features a large selection of bulk items; again, smaller than Whole Foods, but still comprehensive.  The dairy section was extensive, featuring organic milk from an Ohio organic milk cooperative.  The store carries eggs from 2 silos farms, although they seem to have only standard large eggs, and none of the unique varieties. There is a large selection of yogurt, including Stoneyfield and Wallaby, as well as Greek style yogurts and, hooray, my favorite - now I definitely don't have to drive all the way to Whole Foods:

All in all, I have to say I liked Sunflower Market.  Although it might seem small, it covers the bases - and the basics.  Unlike Whole Foods, half of the store isn't dedicated to mediocre prepared foods for hungry lunch crowds, although there was a nice salad bar for hungry professors.

Will it replace Whole Foods for me?  Yes, for everything except Whole Foods' fish counter, which is about the best in the city, unfortunately.  For everything else, I really see no need to drive to Whole Foods, especially during the months of abundant local produce.  Sunflower has all of the organic staples Whole Foods has, but at lower prices.  And, for me personally, Sunflower is a short drive - even a nice long walk if it isn't raining, as it is today.

Will it replace Trader Joe's?  Nothing can replace Trader Joe's; for pantry staples such as stock, pasta, pasta sauces, and Savory Thin crackers, I will still head to Trader Joe's.

How about Weiland's?  Nothing can replace Weiland's - I need their meat counter and deli; their prepared foods are also nice, and now that they have liquor, it's a great one-stop grocery for the gourmand. 

How well did the self checkout work?  No flaws in the system, but the guy across from me couldn't scan his coconut.  Since I hate making small talk, I usually opt for the self-checkout.  But sometimes they don't work very well - nobody has a worse system than Kroger.  The receipt is nicely divided by store section, so for those on a tight budge, you can easily scan your receipt to see how much you spent this week on produce, say, or prepared foods.  It's a handy feature I haven't seen before.

How was the parking?  It might seem strange to some to park in a parking garage to go grocery shopping, but people from large cities are probably accustomed to doing so.  Besides, the parking garage at the South Campus Gateway is only $1 for the first 3 hours or less, so it's cheaper than driving around trying to find a meter.

Overall spent:  $49.88 for 37 items, the most expensive being $4.67 for my olive bar selections; I probably bought enough food for about 8 lunches and a few snacks.

So, manager of Sunflower Market, now the mystery of the picture-taking is solved!  Until I haunt your next opening on Bethel Road. . .

Info:  Sunflower Market 18 East 9th Ave Columbus (in the South Campus Gateway) 614.298.1614

of related interest: to read my review of Whole Foods when it opened, click here.  To read my opinions about local Asian grocery stores, click here (definitely also read the comments).   To read about Yutzy's Farm Market, click here.