Amazon Buys Whole Foods

fits with his strategy of burning money for growth and spinning it into profit through stock, as well as entering a physical store space and the grocery market. curious, and slightly worried given Amazon's and WaPo's developments, about how this will go.

 

I've only been to Whole Foods a few times and I honestly do not understand the hype. Everything that Whole Foods sales can be purchased for less elsewhere.

 

This is a really cool acquisition and I was listening to the news earlier and the plan is to actually bring the prices down so it is more accessible. Despite the high prices I really like a lot of the products(especially produce) but prefer Wegmans overall.

 

To be honest I don't understand the hype either. I live in Austin and have frequented the flagship store. The flagship store Ill say is pretty awesome in terms for what the ofter. Huge meat counter, seafood a mini fish cooked to order stationand lots of others things unique only to the flagship store. The other stores are just okay. They don't have a vast selection of produce and some don't even have a deli. In Austin there are plenty of places to get quality and choice. Central Market is the competitor version of Whole Foods owned by HEB which is the Texas standard of grocery stores.

Aside from that, I think this is a great deal considering how awesome Amazon is doing with their technology and innovation. I think its better they acquired it then lets say Kroger. I expect to see a more seamless customer experience. lower pricing and great sourcing. Maybe even more automation with that system they are testing where you take a product off the shelf and walk out and its debited from your acct automatically.

coming from Upstate NY my whole life I miss the SHIT out of Wegmans sigh....

 

not so bold prediction: amazon implements their amazon go systems into whole foods and take over the world

 

Color me unimpressed. Kroger is ahead of the game on technology and execution and I don't think Wf will be able to compete price wise. They are so far out of the ballpark to even get close would be a struggle.

 

One thing I really like about Whole Foods and there have been multiple accounts of this, is that it has shown to lead to gentrification of an area. Living in New Jersey there are a lot of "bad" and run down areas. They have built one fairly close to where I live and not only has it improved the neighborhood, but has also allowed a lot of other businesses to thrive.

 

Honestly wonder what this means for the Whole Foods brand. The previous owners refusal to adapt and lower prices gave way to further competition in the organic/natural/whatever healthy buzz term you prefer market. Perhaps Amazon will adapt?