Whole Foods Thronged At Pre-Opening Event

It's not every day that people shell out $10 to get into a grocery store, but that was the drill Monday at the pre-opening party for Darien's new Whole Foods Market.

Of course the proceeds went to a good cause—Darien's Person-to-Person—but the Disney World-esque lines said it all: local residents were eager to get a glimpse of the community's newest retailer-cum-spectacle.

Nearly 2000 guests packed into the store over the course of three hours, taking in the sights, smells, and tastes of the upscale grocery.

Set against a live accompaniment of double bass, marimba, and drums, the crowds snaked around Whole Foods' mostly-stocked aisles, moving from free sample to free sample.

From potato gnocchi to goat cheese crostini, sashimi tuna steak to connecticut blue oysters, heirloom bean salad to butternut squash and crab bisque, rich and exotic tastes abounded.

One of the largest crowds—disproportionately teeming with children—surrounded the gelato station. Another table featured the surprising combination of pickled beets and blue cheese on raisin bread. Equally surprising: they went fast.

According to Diane Reese Tucker, director of development for Person-to-Person, the event brought in over $15,000 dollars for the charity.

"It's just phenomenal, the turnout of the community," Tucker said. "We are very humbled by that."

Whole Foods routinely holds such fundraisers when it opens new stores, and Person-to-Person was fortunate to become the beneficiary after some gentle lobbying of the retailer, Tucker said.

Since 1968, Person-to-Person has offered emergency aid to qualified persons through clothing donations, financial assistance, and its food pantry. The charity also operates a number of scholarship, summer camp, and holiday programs.

The robust turnout to Monday's event was not without drawbacks. Whole Foods' parking lot was packed solid, spilling traffic onto Ledge Road and into the recently revamped Post Road/Leroy Ave/I-95 intersection. The backups added weight to fears that the store would generate more congestion.

Those concerns will be put to the test of day-to-day business soon enough, as Whole Foods officially opens for business Wednesday morning, beginning with a bread breaking ceremony at 8:45 a.m.