Whole Foods Market Opens Oct. 12

Whole Foods Market will open its new 32,000-square-foot Minnetonka store on Wednesday, Oct 12 near Ridgedale Mall.

"It's great," said Dan Blackburn told Patch, who currently heads up the Whole Foods Minneapolis location. "The neighborhood is great. It's just going to be a really good thing."

The new Minnetonka Whole Foods store will fill the space formerly occupied by Circuit City, at the intersection of Plymouth Road and Interstate 394, just north of Ridgedale Center. It will be the Twin Cities' fourth location, joining the existing Minneapolis and St. Paul locations as well as an Edina location that is also  and expected to open next spring. In December the Minnetonka Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the project.

Blackburn estimates the new store will bring 120 jobs to Minnetonka, 80 percent of those being full-time positions with benefits.

Whole Foods announced that the store manager will be Bob Eisenbise, who has 20 years of grocery experience and most recently ran Whole Foods' Grand Avenue store in St. Paul, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal.

Whole Foods stores feature natural, organic and gourmet foods, produce, baked goods, meats and seafood.