This Is The Best Day Of The Week To Shop At Whole Foods

Grocery shopping is one of those weekly things on your to-do list that you either enjoy or dread. If you fall on the dread side of that spectrum, you have probably, albeit slowly, come to this realization: It has to get done. This has probably caused you to try some online delivery services, but you've probably also figured out, no one shops for your family like you do, and you may not want to pay additional delivery fees and tips to get food to your house. Armed with your list, you bravely drive to Whole Foods and find the parking lot void of any empty parking spaces, and once in the store, the produce section is busting at the seams with other shoppers. Not what you signed up for? Us either. 

While Whole Foods only represents 2.5 percent of the U.S. grocery market, their stores are always busy (via CNN Business). In fact, in 2019, grocery shoppers in U.S. households made an average of 1.6 trips per week to their grocery retailer of choice (via Statista). So, who wouldn't want an insider's knowledge of the best days and times to do your grocery shopping at Whole Foods? Well, guess what, we dreaders have to stick together. We know the 411 and we're willing to share what we've learned.

First, if you aren't an Amazon Prime member, you may want to change that. Prime members can take advantage of members-only discounts and promotions on Whole Foods purchases starting every Wednesday (via Cooking Light). Wade Taylor, a store team leader at Whole Foods in Austin, Texas shared with Today that if your are in the 'burbs, you should probably skip making your Whole Foods run near dinnertime on weeknights. This is when you will find the store at its busiest, as shoppers stop by after work or in between kid activities to pick up convenience foods like rotisserie chickens, and other prepared meals from their hot bar. 

But if you are a city dweller, lunchtime tends to be busier too, with the hot bar catering to surrounding businesses, and therefore, check-out lanes can get tedious. What about coveted weekends? Apparently, they are also busy, but because local suppliers come in for demonstrations, it is also a great time to sample some products you wouldn't know about otherwise. What about the best days to shop for meat and seafood at Whole Foods? Wade recommends weekday mornings. Hopefully this is enough intel for us dreaders!