Aug. 31--Whole Foods Market will open its first store in the Richmond area Wednesday in Short Pump.

For the past month, the natural-food grocer has been putting the finishing touches on the 60,000-square-foot store in West Broad Village.

Last week, most of the shelves were neatly stocked with row upon row of organic olive oil, hand-picked coffees and eco-friendly diapers. Workers were putting together the final pieces of the produce section -- a faux farmers market just inside the entrance.

Store manager Aaron Brook said the chain is coming to Richmond because there is a market for Whole Foods' wide assortment of organic and natural foods, vegetables and fruit, plus standard grocery items.

The Short Pump Whole Foods will feature a hot bar for freshly prepared meals, a gelato stand, two salad bars and a bakery offering pies and some breads. The store, which will employ 140, also will offer cooking classes.

Brook anticipates a strong opening. "We can feel there's a buzz out there," he said.

Whole Foods has eight stores in the state, seven in Northern Virginia and one in Charlottesville.

In the Richmond area, Whole Foods, which is trying to dispel its reputation as a high-priced grocer, comes into a competitive market at a time when shoppers are increasingly careful how they spend their money.

Jeffery W. Metzger, publisher of Food World, a trade publication, said that while Richmond is a good market for Whole Foods, it will be in an area already saturated with grocery stores.

Within a half-mile of Whole Foods are a Kroger, a Ukrop's and a Tom Leonard's Farmer's Market. A Trader Joe's, also a newcomer to the Richmond market, is scheduled to open Sept. 26 at the Short Pump Station shopping center about a quarter-mile away. The nearby Wal-Mart and Target also sell groceries.

All the grocery competitors face shoppers who increasingly are looking for value, Metzger said.

In a July survey, Columbus, Ohio-based TNS Retail Forward found that 20 percent of shoppers have adjusted their grocery shopping habits because of the economy. The survey found the hardest-hit were organicand natural-food stores -- Whole Foods' specialty.

Metzger says many shoppers are heading to nontraditional, lower-priced grocers such as Wal-Mart and Costco for their day-to-day grocery needs.

The TNS survey found that 24 percent of people are doing more shopping at discount grocers such as Save-A-Lot and ALDI, while 12 percent say they are shopping more at warehouse clubs and 23 percent are shopping more at Wal-Mart Supercenters.