Tough run continues for Whole Foods
Karma seems to have caught up with Whole Foods -- perhaps not instantly, but fairly quickly. Since the company's grand poobah John Mackey was outed as an internet troll and it took a major flyer on the Wild Oats chain, things have gone downhill. The FTC is back to investigating the alleged anti-competitive nature of that acquisition; Whole Foods' earnings and stock price are way down; and now comes the last thing they need -- an E. coli recall for ground beef sold at Whole Foods stores in a number of states (although apparently not out our way). As Granny used to say, "God don't punish with a stick."
| Posted at 2:40 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (4)
Question: If the ground beef recall is for meat sold at Whole Foods and at Fred Meyer, I wonder how much more WF charges than FM for what is obviously the same meat.
Posted by none | August 12, 2008 10:41 AM
Aren’t they supposed to open a new store in the Hollywood district in the new Wamu building? I’ll bet it won’t happen. Just like Zupan’s pulling out of the 15th & Wielder development. I don’t believe there is a market for that kind of store in the area. Within spitting distance there is a Trader Joes, a Grocery Outlet and a QFC. Talk about saturation.
Posted by John Benton | August 12, 2008 11:54 AM
Personal disclosure: I own a handful of Whole Foods stock, which I bought before the Mackey revelations, and I'm hanging onto for at least another two years. Whole Foods might make a comeback, but that's going to require (a) a drastic increase of disposable income among its target clientele, (b) a drastic decrease in its transportation costs (which is why it's pushing the "Buy Local" program as hard as it is, and (c) starts hiring employees based on ability rather than their ability to take substandard pay just so they can work "groovy retail". If I wanted to ask a question of a retail employee and be sneered at because I should be happy with what they've got, I'd go to a Borders, and lower than that I can't get.
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | August 13, 2008 2:26 PM
If I wanted to ask a question of a retail employee and be sneered at because I should be happy with what they've got, I'd go to a Borders, and lower than that I can't get.
Have you shopped at the REI lately?
Posted by John Benton | August 13, 2008 4:02 PM