Chorlton Wholefoods

Chorlton Wholefoods epitomises the ‘hip village’ vibe around Beech Road and Chorlton Green. While their store front evokes an old village chemist, the till is manned by a friendly Moby-​look guy and the stock is general wholefoods plus a wide selection of natural supplements. (Definitely, this is much more my kind of place than a city centre Holland & Barrett, which I would tend to avoid!)
If you are a resident of Beech Road or thereabouts, this is the sort of shop you will want to go flat out to support to keep the area thriving as ‘a place to call home’ — and what a place it is! There is a small selection of organic fresh produce — as little and often is the way to shop for fruit & veg, a local supplier is of course a blessing.
For those of us from further afield, Chorlton Wholefoods is fun to visit along with the myriad of quaint, quirky gift shops, music stores, cafés and restaurants on Beech Road. Beech Road is leafy, quiet, interesting and aesthetically the job has been finished. I think you know what I mean — all nice-​looking, rather than some nice bits here and there!
As other reviewers mention, teas and natural supplements are well-​featured here. However, I am not in the market for those much and so can’t really add any insight. However, they do have quite a bit of unique other stock here, including specialised eco-​cleaning products such as shower cleaner. What I ended up spending £5 on was a sisal back scrubber — the guy serving told me he had one at home and recommended it. This is a woven strip of sisal fibre about a metre long with handles on either end. I’m finding it invigorating but a bit rough — as a guy I guess I can handle that! But it is quite scratchy, and some might prefer the more controlled scrubbing pressure of the sisal mit advertised on the packaging, although I don’t think Chorlton Wholefoods had the mit in stock. But for a £5 or thereabouts you can’t really go wrong, and some intelligent purchasing is happening here so good to keep an eye out for the unusual at Chorlton Wholefoods.
Of course, mega co-​op Unicorn Grocery is nearby with much more fresh produce and much more ‘happening’. So I would tend to visit Unicorn on a regular basis and pop over to Chorlton Wholefoods a couple of times a year, just for fun, combined with some gift shopping at Loop and lunch at Horse & Jockey or one of the cafés which I’ve yet to explore.

One of those rare privately-​owned chemist-​style healthy grocers that is allll too rare.
Excellent service. Great selection considering size. And the window acts as the community bulliten board, which beckons patronage.
I love this place and if they carry, would consistantly buy products from them over the high street competition. Many imported and world standard products, for the health-​concious. Great place.

Every year I utter that five letter word which puts fear into the hearts of the husband and of the closets of chocolate I am storing up like a squirrel for a rainy day… DETOX. Unlike many others I do not dare to mention this word after Christmas when I am depressed enough with the credit card bill to deny my body its beloved Twix bars and Curly Wurlys. I start talking detox after Easter when I am sick of the sweet stuff and vow to go all organic.
This is where Chorlton Wholefoods comes in. Maybe the shop lady doesn’t recognise me, or maybe she just silently wonders why I only go there for 4 weeks a year. Anyway, during this sacred month, this shop is my place of worship. It smells of spices and stocks organic pulses, pastas and rices on wonky shelves which tenderly remind me of an old greengrocers. Foods are stored innovatively in old sweetie jars and vitamins I cannot pronounce line the shelves like little soldiers. Tea drinkers can forgo their Tetley for fennel or chamomile and white rice is abandoned for the nutty brown variety. The husband rolls his eyes when he opens the cupboards and sarcastically inquires if I have bought the entire stock… and I know he has secret stash of Warburton’s white and PG Tips somewhere.
When the detox is over, I drift away from this eclectic, pungent store with 5,000 notices and adverts in the window, and its lovely, boho shop lady with a messy bun, but I really should go there more often.

I called into Chorlton Wholefoods for the first time the other day. I was in the area and needed some Echinacea. It’s surprising just how much they sell in there.
As well as vitamins and nutritional supplements, they sell organic and wholefoods, pasta, biscuits, tea and Fair Trade goods. As I was being served a man was unloading fresh fruit and vegetables.
The young woman who served me was very helpful, explaining about the different forms of Echinacea and advising me on the best one to buy.
Before I left I bought a bar of chocolate. Well, it was Green and Blacks and so it doesn’t really count.