Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region. No non-grocery posts.
klkla
Posts: 1614
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 3:26 pm
Been thanked: 2 times
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by klkla »

storewanderer wrote:So essentially the same concept as Safeway.com?

Whole Foods already has a "concierge" service that has a delivery fee and a 10% upcharge for a personal shopper to go shop for you and then you pick your items up at the store. Orders are either phoned in, emailed in, or faxed in. They have contracts with some tourist entities up at Lake Tahoe where groundskeepers or some other staff of the said entities drive down to Reno to pick up the orders which Whole Foods fulfills from the Reno Store. The system is pretty low tech, the store literally just scans everything into the cash register then keys the credit card number of the user for the bill. It is a little bit of a challenge as tourists want items like Oreos or Heinz Ketchup and Whole Foods does not have those and then fulfills the order with Newman O's or some "other" Ketchup. Some customers are still funny about brand and it will be interesting to see how Amazon goes about that. I think Amazon will need to figure out a way for customers to be able to order whatever food they want, and fulfill it locally, not just what Whole Foods wants to sell to the customer.
Amazon has a much more robust web-based infrastructure than Safeway or Whole Foods. They should be able to drive sales with innovative I.T. solutions.

I would imagine that they would still not carry Oreos or Heinz Ketchup. As the strategy relates to the Whole Foods purchase they would most likely be expanding their presence in the Organic & Health food segment. I would think that Amazon Fresh would continue to operate on it's own where feasible as a separate entity.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by storewanderer »

Looks like expansion of the 365 format is being stalled.
http://www.progressivegrocer.com/depart ... sion?cc=10

Maybe the better move would be for them to just buy Sprouts...
klkla
Posts: 1614
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 3:26 pm
Been thanked: 2 times
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by klkla »

365 was only developed as a reaction to Wall Street pressure. I don't think Whole Food's heart was ever in it. It probably makes sense to slow this down so they can see what Amazon is going to want from them long term.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by storewanderer »

I have yet to see a 365 but I think you are right.

I did hear they were looking to open a 365 in South Lake Tahoe. I think South Lake Tahoe could support a regular Whole Foods, albeit an abbreviated size of no more than about 35,000 square feet. Same goes for Truckee. But I digress. I am not sure why they were proposing the 365 concept for South Lake Tahoe... instead of the standard format.
rwsandiego
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1242
Joined: April 3rd, 2016, 10:57 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 55 times
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote:I have yet to see a 365 but I think you are right.

I did hear they were looking to open a 365 in South Lake Tahoe. I think South Lake Tahoe could support a regular Whole Foods, albeit an abbreviated size of no more than about 35,000 square feet. Same goes for Truckee. But I digress. I am not sure why they were proposing the 365 concept for South Lake Tahoe... instead of the standard format.
I was unimpressed by the LA 365. Interestingly, the original 365 sign reads "365 by Whole Foods Market." You could easily miss the "by Whole Foods Market" part. The picture of the Cedar Lake store shows a prominent Whole Foods Market sign with "365" in smaller letters off in the corner. This tells me that the store might become a full-fledged WFM.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1570
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by SamSpade »

I thought it was this thread, forgive me if not.
Somewhere I read that 2 of the 4 "365" stores were doing well.
My brain went Bellevue & Lake Oswego ("Portland") arent.
But, if this Sunday afternoon is any indication, I was entirely wrong about Lake Oswego.

This store's parking lot is near full, the local restaurant tenant is bustling and the store is being shopped much more than a few other places I was in today.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by storewanderer »

It could be the stores are generating the sales, but not the margins they are looking for...
wnetmacman
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 994
Joined: January 17th, 2010, 2:36 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 44 times
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by wnetmacman »

storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by storewanderer »

That was awfully prompt approval. Maybe now Amazon can purchase Sprouts too. Holding both Whole Foods and Sprouts would be very strategic in my opinion.
klkla
Posts: 1614
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 3:26 pm
Been thanked: 2 times
Status: Offline

Re: Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7Billion

Post by klkla »

storewanderer wrote:That was awfully prompt approval. Maybe now Amazon can purchase Sprouts too. Holding both Whole Foods and Sprouts would be very strategic in my opinion.
Trying to merge Whole Foods and Sprouts would probably raise anti-trust concerns. While Amazon and Whole Foods didn't really compete directly it's a different story with Whole Foods and Sprouts.

The New York Times as an interesting article about some of the changes planned by amazon:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/tech ... prime.html

From the article:

"The era of Whole Paycheck, the nickname some use for Whole Foods, may be drawing to a close. Amazon, which takes control of the upscale grocer on Monday, intends to slash prices the same day."

"Amazon plans to weave together its online business and physical stores by turning its Prime membership program into a Whole Foods rewards program, providing additional savings to customers. Amazon Prime is a $99-a-year service that gives customers faster free shipping, video streaming and other benefits."
Post Reply