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TriBeCa Whole Foods Launches Personal Shopping Service

By Julie Shapiro | February 16, 2011 1:54pm
Gerlinde Gentzke, the concierge at the TriBeCa Whole Foods, works with customers to find recipes and groceries that suit them.
Gerlinde Gentzke, the concierge at the TriBeCa Whole Foods, works with customers to find recipes and groceries that suit them.
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DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

TRIBECA — The Whole Foods in TriBeCa recently launched a new service for downtown residents who are too busy to figure out what to make for dinner.

Customers can e-mail their food preferences and allergies to Gerlinde Gentzke, the store's concierge, and she will suggest recipes, shop for the ingredients and deliver them to the client’s doorstep.

"We do everything for you," Gentzke said from the bustling Warren Street store this week.

Gentzke, who is in charge of Whole Foods' new Personal Shopping service, often goes back and forth with customers until they arrive at a meal and a grocery list that makes them happy.

"They’ll say, ‘I want to make something for dinner, I have five kids and one has a nut allergy — help!'" Gentzke said. "It’s all done over e-mail, not by checking boxes [on an online form]."

The TriBeCa Whole Foods is the first in the city to offer a Personal Shopping service.
The TriBeCa Whole Foods is the first in the city to offer a Personal Shopping service.
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DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

One of the most popular recipes that Gentzke suggests is quinoa with fresh sweet potatoes and frozen kale, a one-pot meal that takes only 20 minutes to prepare, she said.

The TriBeCa Whole Foods' Personal Shopping program started last year for just a few downtown buildings, including the Visionaire and Solaire in Battery Park City, after the stores got a slew of customer requests.

At the beginning of February, the store expanded Personal Shopping to its entire delivery zone, below 14th Street river to river. It is the only Whole Foods in the city to offer the service.

"We listened to [customers] and met the need, and they love it," said Steven Marion, the store’s marketing team leader.

Personal shopping costs $9.99 per order, plus a delivery fee of $4.95 to $9.95 depending on location. There is a $50 minimum.

Michael Sinatra, a Whole Foods spokesman, said lower Manhattan is uniquely suited to the concierge service.

"It's a different kind of residential community," Sinatra said. "People are very busy and work in different parts of the city. They don’t want to lose extra hours going to the grocery store."

Customers who want to sign up for the program can fill out a form at the store’s concierge desk, listing their food preferences and allergies. Then they can place orders seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the orders will be delivered within two hours.