Amazon is buying Whole Foods for 13.5 billion dollars. BILLION! Wowza! And they are paying cash for it. Since I’ve always been a huge Amazon lover, but not really a Whole Foods shopper, this was interesting to me. I guess it’s more of a merger agreement where Amazon will buy Whole Foods’ net debt and purchase its stock at $42 per share. All of the Whole Foods stores will continue to be Whole Foods. The sale is supposed to be finalized later this year, but it first has to be approved by Whole Foods shareholders. Here’s what Jeff Bezos {Amazon founder} said about the reasoning for the purchase:
“Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy. Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades — they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.”
“The Whole Foods Brand will remain”
The Whole Foods’ CEO, John Mackey, will stay the CEO and their headquarters will stay in Austin, TX, but as far as other changes, they haven’t released that yet. Like if the purchase means that Whole Foods’ prices will go down and we can no longer call it Whole Paycheck, or if they’ll start delivering fresh foods like Amazon Fresh does now {or if it will take the place of Amazon Fresh?). The people who loyally shop at Whole Foods will probably love having their favorite organics delivered straight to their front door! I read somewhere that almost 25% of millennials shopped at Whole Foods last year, and that’s a big ticket market right now! Personally, I think the store that pretty much pioneered organic, fresh food and the e-commerce giant will pack a pretty powerful punch once they combine forces. Could be a match made in grocery heaven!
What do you think? Do you like the potential this holds? Do you think it’ll make you more likely to shop at Whole Foods now or have you order Whole Foods delivery service? Do you think we’ll see big changes? Let me know what you think in the comments.
~Mavis
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Tammy says
I don’t really care one way or another. I did read an article about it though. 🙂 I don’t shop much at Whole Foods now, and unless their prices are drastically lowered, I probably won’t start shopping there after the buyout/merge. The only things I buy there now are health food store items like toothpaste and vitamins. I wish they had bulk herbs and spices, but at least the one near me doesn’t. With stores like Aldi continuing to add more organic and natural items, it lessens my desire/need to shop at Whole Foods!
Gerri Gerling says
I agree, Tammy I shop Sprouts for my produce; much more affordable, and they offer both “regular” or organic. Never quite understood why anyone would pay higher prices for much the same product.
Mrs. C. says
What Amazon really bought is real estate – over 400 stores in upper middle class locations across the country. Bezos has big plans, and it’s not groceries.
Dlmay says
Whole Foods comp sales have declined over 2% year over year for a few years now. They were going to be bought out by someone, scuttlebutt in the industry was Albertsons, so the buyout was expected. As for Whole paycheck, amazon should position them for better pricing and it’s a plus because amazon has brick and mortar locations to ship orders and take returns thus reducing costs. Walmart better get busy because Amazon isn’t going to slow down and wait for them to catch up.
Lisa says
I’m thinking this is fantastic news. Prices will go down and I will have more options to buy organic foods via Amazon Prime.
Natalie says
Whole foods has had some many recalls! Expensive! Agree aldi is coming around!
Natalie says
So many recalls,darn spell check!
Earlene says
I just read a article that Kroger may throw a curve into the mix, they may put a bid in for Whole Foods. I like Aldi’s except mine bc it smells bad ! Like BO and spilled milk! Ugh what a nasty smell!!
Sue says
I’ll keep shopping at Trader Joe’s and Fresh market. More organic in this house the better for healthy eating. Sprouts is also big now here in the south.
Gina says
I believe that it is so Amazon can truly compete with Wal-Mart.
Both will be delivering, but right now Amazon is better at that, but Wal-Mart is trying to up its game.
Also, I heard thay cashiers will lose as the trend is towards self checkout.
Kim Mann says
Mavis! No, no and NO! *sigh* I do lobe Amazon, but Whole Paycheck, I mean Food? Not so much. Not only are their prices way too high but they don’t use non gmo. Some, but not always. As for best choices for organic, non-gmo at better prices, aldi and trader Joe’s!
Cheri says
I love Whole Foods and shop there weekly, although not for a lot of things. The store really isn’t as crazy-expensive as most people seem to think, as I found through a comparison shop once. You have to be strategic and learn what’s comparable to regular stores in quality and price. I want to stick with Whole Foods for a long time and avoid my regular grocery stores as much as I can. I’m wary about the merger, though. Bringing prices down is a great possibility, but I don’t trust a mammoth company like Amazon and don’t want much to do with it or the common practice of ordering household goods and groceries over shopping local businesses. I also have to wonder what Whole Foods customers may end up losing over time. It feels off to me, but maybe it’ll be all good, though, so here’s to hoping.
Kristina says
If Amazon is a mammoth company, Whole Foods is a baby mammoth (you don’t buy a mom and pop operation for $13.5 Billion) . It’s a testament to the quality of their marketing that they seem to have convinced people otherwise.
Cheri says
I understand that WF is a not a local business or even small. No need to convince me. But I much prefer shopping at WF to supporting Amazon. I regret that now I have to support Amazon through WF, though I do shop through Amazon sometimes.
KAYTHEGARDENER says
My favorite organic stores here in the Pacific NW are 1) New Seasons & distantly 2) Trader Joes…
But I try to get most of my stuff in Winco, just to save time.
RebekahU says
I am not a big fan of Whole Foods. I think that in many ways it promotes a fraud of sorts. If I am going to spend my entire paycheck somewhere, I would MUCH prefer to shop at my local farmers market and try to eat the foods that are local (even up to 100 miles from home), and grown by a local endeavor. My favorite place to shop for groceries is the Farmers Table, then Aldi. I wish we had a Trader Joes nearby, but we do not. The myth that healthy food has to cost so much is just that – a myth that many have bought hook, line and sinker. Yes – organic food costs more, but if people would try to grow some of their own food, they would be amazed at the savings.
Lisa MTB says
I don’t think it will affect my purchasing habits much, but it will be interesting to watch what develops, especially if it brings tech changes (like the predicted “no need to check-out”) that impact other retailers. That could make shopping trips more efficient and speedy.
Cheri says
Someone above said WF promotes fraud, which kind of bothers me, but because I think a lot of people might agree, I feel the need to take a moment to defend WF here. I don’t know where you all live, so I’ll say here that I’m speaking from metro Denver, Colorado, where the cost of living is high. I have a wide variety of grocery stores to choose from where I live, including three health food store chains, Trader Joe’s, and two traditional grocery store chains. Because I have a family of seven and we are squarely middle class, struggling constantly with money, I have done three comparison shops in the past at different times to see which grocery stores are truly most economical for the kind of food I buy. I really care about animal welfare, waste, and unprocessed foods, yet I have a pretty tight budget, so I’m careful about what I buy. I don’t support the big food companies much, because I don’t think they produce very high-quality or eco-conscious food.
Whole Foods is indeed more expensive than other stores for some things, but when you study the factors carefully, it is not as expensive as people seem to think. I found many things at WF that were about the same or cheaper than foods similar in quality at the cheaper traditional chain. (I compared things by unit value by the way, such as price per ounce). These comparable products are usually the 365 (store) brand, and they are good products, but here is how the store breaks down by department:
*coffee bar–comparable to regular coffee shops
*hot food bars–more expensive for the serve-yourself option (shockingly so for some of it)
*cheese and deli– more expensive, but the quality is higher than what I find at the traditional stores. I understand the 365 brand of cheese, for example, to be sourced from Rumiano, which treats its cows humanely and with a lot of pasture. I doubt you could say that about my traditional store’s store brand of cheese.
*produce–the department is mostly organic, so you have to compare organic prices. Yes, they are more expensive, because they are organic and often locally sourced. Local in Denver equals high prices, not only at WF but everywhere. I don’t buy much produce; I want to but can’t. It is more expensive than Sprouts organic, where I buy my produce (though I still can’t afford organic), but the quality can’t be beat. If I could afford it, I would buy it.
*meat–more expensive, but because of the step rating they are pickier about their sources. You can’t compare the conventional meat at WF with the conventional meat at the traditional store, because they aren’t the exact same product. And all local meat will automatically be higher, as it is everywhere.
*dairy–not a lot of difference with traditional stores, but it partly depends on the product. I can buy whipping cream for about the same price at WF as I can at King Soopers.
*packaged goods–many things are comparable, but it greatly depends on what you buy. WF uses a lot of small companies that produce high-quality products. They will always have higher prices because of this. They can’t compete with the big-name brands at traditional grocery stores, and WF can’t do much about that, I don’t think. I don’t buy many of these products, but I understand that the high prices come with supporting small businesses if I do buy them. And I’d rather support them than, say, Nabisco or General Mills. At WF I usually buy the 365 products if I want something, and the prices are pretty comparable to traditional stores for the same quality and type of product.
WF IS more expensive than most other stores, but not fraudulently so. Could they lower their prices a bit to help customers out? I have no idea; I don’t know much about business. Maybe. But I do know that to get high-quality food, you always pay more. I also know for a fact that traditional stores in my area aren’t as cheap as people think, at least not for comparable products, and neither is Costco for some products. Thankfully, I have access to a Trader Joe’s, because that is where the cheap food is and that is where I buy most of our food. Sprouts has the cheapest produce, but I wish more people would support WF and all it does to promote good, healthy food and small and often local companies. I fear the influence of Amazon and what it might do to ruin the good things about WF. I hope it lowers prices, of course, but not at the expense of quality.
Cheri says
Just a few corrections on my post above, because I was in a hurry when I wrote it. I forgot to mention that I also live near a SuperTarget, Walmart Supercenter, and a Costco and added them into my comparison shop, finding them to be cheaper for some things–which was the case with every store, including WF–and not for others. I also said I care about “unprocessed foods” where I meant foods without unhealthy additives/preservatives. Finally, I neglected to add in bakery items to my list above. WF has an artisanal bakery that is shockingly high here, but it’s regular packaged bread isn’t much different from the traditional grocery stores, yet is higher in quality. Another reason I go to TJ’s, where it’s both good and cheaper.