h1. Whole Foods Toledo location announcement - Feb 2015

my Feb 12, 2015 TT comment

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quote=188128

Actually back in 2005, Carty supported Whole Foods coming to Toledo. But as mayor in early 2006, Carty may have come close to derailing the entire Westgate redevelopment project.

The Westgate redevelopment became somewhat of a political issue during the 2005 mayoral campaign.

Then-mayor Jack Ford and his allies (A-Team Democrats), such as Frank Szollosi supported Costco and opposed Whole Foods because at one time, the Whole Foods CEO compared unions to herpes. 

In the fall of 2004, a Columbus Dispatch story "said":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/16/800 Toledo was the second-most unionized city in the country, so the opposition to Whole Foods was understandable.

Wikipedia : <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mackey_%28businessman%29">John Mackey</a> :

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He is the current co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, which he co-founded in 1980. Mackey is a strong supporter of free market economics. He is one of the most influential advocates in the movement for organic food.

Mackey is known for his *strong anti-union views,* having once compared unions to herpes in that "it won't kill you, but it's very unpleasant and will make a lot of people not want to be your lover."
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I wonder if current Toledo city councilman Jack Ford has softened his views on Whole Foods.

During the 2005 mayoral campaign, Carty (B-team Dem) supported Whole Foods coming to Westgate, and he opposed Costco. 

Battles over the redevelopment design plans did occur between local officials, including Carty, and property owner Liz Holland, probably related to what enjoyeverysandwich "mentioned":http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/188109#188141 above. I know the so called 20/20 plan or whatever that's called was referenced.

My August 2005 "comment":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1333#7549 

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Liz Holland, CEO of Abbell Credit Corp. of Chicago, the owners of Westgate, gave a 10 minute news conference at Westgate Thursday morning. She presented an artist's sketch of what the new Westgate might look like. 

Click to enlarge.
<a href="http://www.toledotalk.com/westgateconcept2.jpg"><img border="0" src="http://www.toledotalk.com/conceptthumb.jpg"></a>
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In 2006 when Carty was mayor, Costco "demanded and received":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/4/2293 a waiver on Toledo's living wage issue, but that was not well-received by some officials, including Carty who threatened to veto council's waiver decision. I think Costco threatened to pull out of the Westgate redevelopment project if Toledo did not grant the living wage waver. And Holland would only redevelop Westgate if an anchor store, like Costco, was on board. 

"Westgate-related Toledo Talk threads":http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/3626/Westgate-related_Toledo_Talk_threads - Aug 29, 2007 

* "Costco at Westgate":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1333 - --Tue Aug 09, 2005 (82 comments)--
* "Costco versus Whole Foods":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1458 - --Tue Sep 27, 2005 (20 comments)--
* "Question about Carty/Westgate":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/16/1693 - --Thu Dec 15, 2005 (9 comments)--
* "Ford announces Westgate redevelopment":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1720 - --Thu Dec 22, 2005 (36 comments)--
* "Finkbeiner vs. Holland?":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1863 - --Tue Jan 31, 2006 (22 comments)--
* "Mayor Strikes Secret Westgate Deal?":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/12/1877 - --Thu Feb 02, 2006 (24 comments)--
* "Westgate":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/4/1897 - --Tue Feb 07, 2006 (23 comments)--
* "Finkbeiner living wage veto contested":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/2345 - --Mon Apr 24, 2006 (42 comments)--
* "Demolition Begins at Westgate Shopping Center":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/2491 - --Thu May 25, 2006 (7 comments)--


In September 2005, then-city councilman Frank Szollosi "wrote":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1458#9169 on his blog:

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Carty Finkbeiner threatens Costco and Westgate redevelopment. Carty's choice is Whole Foods, whose CEO has compared unions to herpes. Whole Foods at Westgate would threaten the good United Food and Commercial Workers at Krogers.
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9 to 10 years must be long enough for things to change.

My "comment":http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/comments.pl/3/1863#16265 in a January 2006 thread:

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According to Liz Holland of Westgate, Whole Foods has zero interest in the Toledo area market. That means they're not interested in Toledo, Maumee, Perrysburg, nowhere around here. According to Holland, anyway.

Holland said Abbell approached Whole Foods about a year ago. She told Whole Foods they were talking with Costco about coming to Westgate. At that point, Whole Foods became interested in Toledo, but for some reason, Whole Foods later lost all interest in this region.
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