As someone who does not venture out with his wallet much, I am mostly oblivious to new stores and eateries.

For example, it was a big deal for Napa when the first Target opened at South Napa Marketplace in the early 90s, but not for me.

While I did check Target out and noted the stylish kitchenware, I did not incorporate Target into my daily life.

The same was true of the coming of World Market, Petco, Target Two and on and on. Napa needed these stores, but I didn’t. (I am married to a secret shopper who makes the rounds and provisions our household, leaving me free to contemplate the deeper meanings of life.)

That’s not to say I’m immune to the excitement that comes with an opening. In the mid-80s, I could hardly contain my awe when McCaulou’s debuted with Napa’s first — and still only — escalator. What fun that was.

And remember when we got our first Starbucks (the first of untold many)? A landmark event in Napa’s coming-of-age story, to be sure.

The anticipation that comes with getting something cutting-edge cool has played out again with the coming of Whole Foods Market to Bel Aire Plaza.

At first I was lukewarm. Napa might need a supermarket-sized granola store, but I was pretty sure I didn’t.

Then I observed the enthusiasm with which my neighbors regarded Whole Foods. It validated their sense of Napa’s rising place in the cosmos.

Eat your heart out, Fairfield. Sorry, Vallejo. Not every community can be Whole Foods worthy.

As the reconstruction of Ralphs and Longs into a Whole Foods gained momentum, my attitude began to change. On forays to Peet’s Coffee, I began monitoring the ripping up of the old stores and the coming of the new. I’m a sucker for demolitions.

By autumn I had practically joined the Whole Foods construction crew. Several times a week I peeked through chainlink fencing, a cup of Peet’s in hand, as the transformation progressed.

Soon Cheryl was joining me. In ways that cannot be explained by medical science, the arrival of Whole Foods had lit a fire in the core of our being.

The odds were not great that Whole Foods would truly transform our lives, yet there was the feeling of something momentous about to happen. We needed to pay attention.

Can anyone explain this? Are our lives so empty, so bankrupt of meaning that we need a fancy market to spark excitement? Shouldn’t we be about something more important?

Then again, who can resist the siren song of the new. Especially those born with the shopping gene.

Succumbing totally to the Whole Foods hype, Cheryl and I went to the pre-opening gala. My arrival at Bel Aire was hair-raising. I got stuck in the middle of Trancas when the light changed.

Fearing being broadsided, I scrambled out of my lane and formed one of my own at the Bel Aire entry. This hairy moment only added to my Whole Foods excitement.

Whole Foods was unlike any supermarket I’ve ever seen, a Disneyland for health-conscious eaters.

I returned as a reporter on opening day to observe how Bel Aire’s challenged circulation system would handle the Whole Foods crowds. Despite a deluge of curious shoppers, things went surprisingly well.

The combination of plastic sticks down the main entryway, which reduced left-turn options, and a traffic officer who waved arriving vehicles past stop signs seemed to do the job.

Substantial numbers of Whole Foods shoppers had to park near Target, then venture across the main driveway which has no pedestrian crosswalks nearby.

If a traffic cop hadn’t been there, if the day had been rainy, things wouldn’t have worked as well as they did. How traffic and pedestrian circulation will work out long term is anyone’s guess.

My relationship with Whole Foods is equally up in the air. I’m not about to become the family’s grocery shopper. That’s Cheryl’s chosen chore and she has strong allegiances to other markets.

Arriving at Peet’s early the morning after the grand opening, I noted that Whole Foods had opened its coffee window and had a bank of heaters going full blast for outdoor sitting.

I paused a moment. Do I change my morning habit? Do I embrace the new?

I was flooded with indecision. Sorting out the pros and cons of deviating from my routine — before my first sip of coffee — was more than I could handle.

Into Peet’s I went.

Kevin can be reached at 256-2217 or Napa Valley Register,  P.O. Box 150, Napa 94559 or kcourtney@napanews.com