Whole Foods HQ Launching New Downtown Lunch, Dinner Delivery By Bike

If such delivery of food through cycles starts, it will be good for a change. Apart from the regular pizzas, burgers etc the delivery of grocery would be more helpful i suppose.

I've lived downtown for over 6 years and have worked downtown for 3 years; I've never known that Whole Foods did any sort of delivery.

So, this is -- regardless of whether or not it's just a regurgitated press release -- helpful information. I'll have to get on Benj's mailing list, so i can find out more about my own neighborhood (alternatively, I could probably read the 9 million DANA emails sitting in my gmail folder labeled "DANA" of which I have never read a single one).

@Seth,

By sheer coincidence, I'm familiar with the kids doing the bicycle delivery, I've spoken to them about it on multiple occasions, and trust me, they're pretty rad. They are in fact doing what's advertised, and offering more.

My bent was with the A-ist, and by no means all of it. I know a couple people at large media conglomerates, and I can tell you, whether they're trying to figure out how to salvage a print newspaper and then run it with 50 people, or how to make ad revenue and keep demand high while streaming a television show 24 hrs a day, they're all trying to figure out how to make money essentially cloning sites like the Austinist. Hyper-local translates pretty well into 'direct marketing.' I'm a cranky asshole, but just I'd just like to see the A-ist do well.

And no, the WF things isn't "news" if you live downtown, unless you wear blinders and treat your car like a vital organ. They've been pretty astute at getting the word out to people who'll actually use the delivery service.

Allen, I apologize. House Arrest sucks. Barred from antagonizing motorists and pedestrians, the only outlets of vitriol I have left are prank calls, bloggy vitriol, and verbally assaulting Jehovah's Witnesses.

Oh, grocery delivery service. Nevermind. Poor reading comprehension.

I'm holding off on ordering anything from them until the flying magic dragon delivery service is extended to Hyde Park. With all the flame and smoke, it's not as eco-friendly as the bicycle service, but it will keep my saute'd quiche warm for the trip.

Seth

Gotta jump in the boat with Benj on this one. As a frequent Austinist Journalism-credential critic, I have to say this piece is flawed on multiple levels.

The largest gaffe is Allen's up-front, bold promotion of the bicycle delivery. He took that Press Release bait and swam for the depths. For christ's sake, Whole Foods is NOT offering bicycle delivery currently, or even on any future tangible date. That means, don't put that in the headline and don't run a big photo of people with green bicycles smiling. They could have just as easily sent out a press release saying "flying magic dragon delivery will be offered in the future." And when it happens, THAT'S when you put it in the headline.

Why does it matter? The only reason Whole Foods is sending out a press release promoting their food delivery and saying they'll have bicycle delivery is because it buys them a green image. If the Austinist rewards them for the lipservice of bicycle delivery by plastering the site with headlines, photos, and menus, then Whole Foods gets the positive PR without the heavy lifting of the follow-through.

What'll likely happen is that Whole Foods will never implement bicycle delivery for the same reason the Soup Peddler no longer does. But downtown office people and condo dwellers will keep ordering saute'd quiches with an extra warm feeling that they're supporting an eco-friendly delivery system while in fact, downstairs is a carbon-spewing truck idling while the driver collects the coins. This misconception will have been built off of coverage like Allen's. Score one more for the Whole Foods Public Relations department!

Seth

Shouldn't those Soup Peddler and Dishalicious links in the article link to the Soup Peddler and Dishalicious websites. Am I supposed to open a new tab and google them? If I want your tags, I can find them at the end of the article. Maybe you should find a better way to increase your page hits, because this way sort of, you know, breaks the internet.

News is only acceptable when its about organizations ran out of a parental-supported shack in east austin that will be out of business in 2 months (not that it was really "in business" to begin with)

Otherwise you're just corporate shilling. Got it.

Allen Y Chen is *OBSESSED* with setting things to the Benny Hill Theme song. Yackety Sax haunts my dreams.

@Benj

A shred of journalistic integrity in a sandwich delivery notice? This is a purely informative post that, given the feedback we saw when we initially mentioned it on our Twitter account (@austinist), merited some notice on the front page as many of our readers expressed a strong interest in it.

As for slowing down, things wax and wane, and we've been hard at work on building up some sections that, admittedly, could use more support. I appreciate feedback on that, whether you want to leave it as a comment or email directly (tips@austinist.com).

Online video is a tricky thing that we've been experimenting with ever since 2005. Even a brief video interview, like the one that staff contributor KEB conducted with Heather Armstrong of DOOCE.com back during SXSW,, takes ages of editing. Another example, the collaborative effort we did with Roxwel back during Fun Fun Fun Fest last year (brief interviews with over 30 festival bands), took weeks of post-editing in order to get the final cuts. We've also looked into quicker, more YouTube-style video captures that could be posted to the site much faster, but these invariably end up looking too amateurish. The new generation of ultra-portable mini HD cams (like the Flip Mino HD or that Kodak equivalent) look promising, but I think we're going to hold off until our next big event (August's annual Boat Party, for example) to give that a go.

As for sexy t-shirt ads, their disappearance is something I lament every single day.

Your comment, apropos to this post, gives me a sudden idea: wouldn't it be neat to strap mini cams to the helmets of one of these riders as they went about their various routes, and then play that back in fast-forward to see what a "day in the life of downtown Austin" looked like? It could even be set to the Benny Hill "Yackety Sax" theme. If anyone is interested in helping us make that a reality, give me a shout.

RE: changing media markets in the next five years, that'll have to wait for Part 2.

Best,

Allen

If you work downtown, this is news.

I appreciate the information. I wonder if they're hiring riders?

He lives!

Oops, sorry Allen. Not clear enough. I meant, how much did it cost you, the Austinist. Sorry, rhetorical question. Answer: the last shred of journalistic integrity. Or rather, the illusion of.

I understand my opinion is not very popular, if at all. I understand it's easier to dictate cool by publishing select menus and venue lineups, (ahem, Mohawk). But, really, Allen. Newspapers are dying, and part of their plan to stay alive is to emulate what you and the Austinist have been doing for years, for 10% of their current online budget(s). The Austinist is/was awesome, but instead of improving and expanding, you guys are like the missionary position of a hyper-local Huffington Post. Instead of improving, the Austinist has slowed down. Have you looked at the AusChron website? There's so much online video, it's like Hulu. Similar to what you've already doing, but with more relevance and revenue.

Everything is going that way, a nice, healthy combo of video, local input, and AP/Reuters wire feeds. Which the A-ist had a lead on, several years ago, but has never really capitalized on. Like the Republican party, ca. 1999: Everything was great, until is wasn't. When does this complacency equate an irrelevant site? 2010? 2011? Are the gothamist guys happy with a modicum of ad revenue and a minimum of relevance? Or is relveance irrelevant, so long as there's a minumum of ad revenue? What happened to the sexy t-shirt ads? I liked those.

Why was the A-ist always out-classed by by scruffy east side zines? If Cox/The Statesman stays relevant in central Texas by surpassing the Austinist (in form if not style), I'm holding you personally responsible. No, not really. But admit it, that would suck balls. What I'd really like to know is, how does the Austinist plan to respond to changing media markets in the next five years.

@Benj drat, forgot to ask for money

nyak nyak

Nice advert for WF! How much did that cost? Hopefully more than the big drapey t-shirt masking Jana's sexy, sexy bod. Yowz!