Amazon Cuts Prices at Whole Foods Store

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monkeymagick

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Fresh off the FTC approval of its acquisition of Whole Foods. As expected, Amazon is already starting a price war by reducing prices on popular grocery items (auto-start video warning). The company plans to offer Whole Foods brand of products on its website and roll out its Prime members into Whole Foods' customer rewards program. Additionally, Amazon will provide Amazon Lockers to Whole Foods stores for customers to receive online orders or return the items. I hope they extend their customer service to stores and have price glitches.

"Amazon is more focused on driving volume and improving service at the expense of profit margins," said Sebastian. "Long-term, this strategy works because the absolute profit dollars can still be significant."
 
Well, now I wish we had a Whole Foods here in the sticks. County Market is too expensive compared to Walmart, and I hate Walmart with a passion. Stuck in the Sticks.
 
lower prices is good, around me we call that place "Whole Paycheck" when people mention going there lol.
 
I went there once, saw the prices and looked through the aisles. I didn't recognize anything! So I just left empty handed and continued shopping at my local grocery store. Maybe I'll give them a shot again sometime now that Amazon owns it. Hoping it will become less hipster.
 
I love this store, I've been giddy every since the news ever since Amazon acquired Whole Foods. Only gripe I had was the prices, but the food was worth the price.
 
aeliusg said:
The workers are in for a treat, I expect. Low prices don't come without a cost.
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There was already a 2200 person layoff last year.

I hope amazon doesnt force WF to reneg on their commitment to local product lines, global initiatives or employee care. The gf wprked there as management for 3 years and was treated exceptionally well.
 
Trepidati0n said:
I'm not sure you understand what was written and what amazon stated.
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I understand that official statements and the actual reality of business oftentimes have discrepancies between them. But I'm sure Amazon is going in the red to give their employees better lives and circumstances. :rolleyes:
 
aeliusg said:
I understand that official statements and the actual reality of business oftentimes have discrepancies between them. But I'm sure Amazon is going in the red to give their employees better lives and circumstances. :rolleyes:
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So you are saying people should be given better benefits than their worth at the expense of others including their consumers? Got it. But don't worry, i'm pretty sure you are typing this on a conflict free made in the USA by a union PC...right?
 
I was doing some work for a few weeks in San Jose a few years ago - I went to Whole Foods every morning for breakfast (and coffee from Peet's). Now back to where I live, we have a few Whole Foods in town - but not really close to me. Might be interested in checking it out if the Amazon price cuts bring it down some. We have a similar store called Fresh Thyme - but I don't do a lot of my grocery shopping with them unless they have a good sale. I'm not into the whole organic movement as my wallet doesn't like it.
 
Trepidati0n said:
So you are saying people should be given better benefits than their worth at the expense of others including their consumers? Got it. But don't worry, i'm pretty sure you are typing this on a conflict free made in the USA by a union PC...right?
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Union? HAHAHAHAHA. Unions in the USA for the most part need to DIAF.

I've worked at a union shop before. NEVER AGAIN.

Bunch of self-entitled lazy destructive idiots for the most part.
 
LOLOL. enjoy being a slave to a corporation. Unions are the only reason this country rose to where it is. Wages are stagnant, benefits are being cut, workers are working longer for lesser pay, CEO pay has increased 700% while their performance has decreased.
cyclone3d said:
Union? HAHAHAHAHA. Unions in the USA for the most part need to DIAF.

I've worked at a union shop before. NEVER AGAIN.

Bunch of self-entitled lazy destructive idiots for the most part.
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tetris42 said:
Isn't that how it works for CEOs?
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Certain people love CEOS who drive companies into the ground. They think they are the next best thing to Jesus himself. Doesn't matter how well they perform or how little work they actually do.
 
If anything, lower prices will encourage competition. While I'm not a huge fan of Amazon acquiring Whole Foods (for employment practices, etc.), I would like to see the price of "healthier" foods become more in-line with the "crap" foods sold at Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Safeway and Kroger. There's a lot of people that can't eat healthier simple because they can't afford it...
 
Arcygenical said:
There was already a 2200 person layoff last year.

I hope amazon doesnt force WF to reneg on their commitment to local product lines, global initiatives or employee care. The gf wprked there as management for 3 years and was treated exceptionally well.
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Local product lines are actually less green and sustainable... Ive seen other articles but in the 30 second google search this was the first to pop up: https://informationstation.org/kitchen_table_econ/the-bad-premises-behind-buy-local/
 
tetris42 said:
Isn't that how it works for CEOs?
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These comments always baffle me. CEOs are paid what they are worth. Yes, its more than everyone else and yes that hurts peoples' egos.

The company has to select the absolute best candidate for the job because so much rides on their decisions. A very select few are qualified for the position and even fewer still would be categorized as the top performers- demand creates the price.
 
Mr34727 said:
These comments always baffle me. CEOs are paid what they are worth. Yes, its more than everyone else and yes that hurts peoples' egos.

The company has to select the absolute best candidate for the job because so much rides on their decisions. A very select few are qualified for the position and even fewer still would be categorized as the top performers- demand creates the price.
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Its like saying youre going to pay your Sys Admin minimum wage. You get what you pay for...
 
gabhpr said:
LOLOL. enjoy being a slave to a corporation. Unions are the only reason this country rose to where it is. Wages are stagnant, benefits are being cut, workers are working longer for lesser pay, CEO pay has increased 700% while their performance has decreased.
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Either unions or the giant wave of manufacturing technology starting in the US or the subsequent giant wave of software starting in the US.

Screen%20Shot%202012-06-20%20at%209.37.55%20AM.png


Workers' wages aren't being cut. Wages constantly recalibrate based on the availability of the skill set.
 
gabhpr said:
LOLOL. enjoy being a slave to a corporation. Unions are the only reason this country rose to where it is. Wages are stagnant, benefits are being cut, workers are working longer for lesser pay, CEO pay has increased 700% while their performance has decreased.
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These are no longer your fathers/grand fathers unions.

Many years ago unions help the working poor improve their working conditions and pay. Overall they where a plus, improved many peoples lives.

But then they got greedy and suffered the same afflictions they accused the CEO's of. They made so many unreasonable demands that they started driving companies out of business.

Then we got government unions.
With their ability to buy off the politicians with campaign contributions, there was no limit to how much they could demand (governments are monopolies and don't have to worry about competition). Now states like California are so buried in debt due to promised pensions, there is no way they will ever be able to pay everything they have promised.
 
Mr34727 said:
These comments always baffle me. CEOs are paid what they are worth. Yes, its more than everyone else and yes that hurts peoples' egos.
Click to expand...

I'm fine with high paid CEO's. It's the bonuses that get me. Company struggling, so they do layoffs. Company saves a lot of money, so they give the CEO a bonus that was close to the money that was spent on the laid off employees. Doesn't make sense.

People are working for the man, typically. The company earns millions of dollars, and the CEO gets a bonus. The people that work the hard labor to make that stuff get no bonus. Or a small one if it's a profit sharing type of gig, which is much better IMO. I like profit sharing.

Whole Foods. I'd like one around me, but I doubt it'll happen. I went into a Yokes (Similar to Whole Foods) and looked around. Some things were pretty cool. Others were very jacked up on price compared to Walmart or others. Ketchup, even the non-HFCS kind, was easily $1 more per bottle there. Everything was more expensive. I bought some fruit and veggies and that was it. Hit the butcher on the way home for some meat (they carry some 'exotic' meats, which is cool).
 
nutzo said:
Then we got government unions.
With their ability to buy off the politicians with campaign contributions, there was no limit to how much they could demand (governments are monopolies and don't have to worry about competition). Now states like California are so buried in debt due to promised pensions, there is no way they will ever be able to pay everything they have promised.
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I support unions. It's a good balance for labor to pool together to counter-balance corporations. However, it should only be in private companies that fail if the union gets too greedy/mgmt labor can't get along. Government unions, even FDR was against them. They can simply go back to the taxpayer for more.

As for CEOs...what do you think your pay would be if you hired consultants to go around to other people in your position and ask them how much they should be paid?
 
Eh. Living in a poorer neighborhood, Whole Foods is actually cheaper than my local grocery store (but it's half an hour away driving). I guess there's Walmart to shop from, but my general rule of thumb is to never purchase food with ingredients I can't pronounce.
 
Mr34727 said:
These comments always baffle me. CEOs are paid what they are worth. Yes, its more than everyone else and yes that hurts peoples' egos.

The company has to select the absolute best candidate for the job because so much rides on their decisions. A very select few are qualified for the position and even fewer still would be categorized as the top performers- demand creates the price.
Click to expand...
Okay fine, let's work with your assumptions. CEOs are paid what they're worth. Why is a CEO of an international corporation on average worth 10x more than one from 50 years ago, or even from the 80s? They're paid proportionally that much more than CEOs of the past, so what are they doing today that requires paying them so much more proportionally than in the past?

Or if they're worth it, why are golden parachutes even a thing? Take Melissa Mayer, she's getting paid $186 million as compensation for POOR performance. Or why were bonuses of tens of millions of dollars given to CEOs of various financial institutions when they went bankrupt and had to be bailed out by the government in the 2008 crash?

It's not about the person on top earning more, that's expected. It's about them playing by entirely different rules than everyone else, where they benefit tremendously regardless of good or bad performance. Short of going to prison, they literally can't lose. Most jobs aren't like that.

It's like you said, "given better benefits than their worth at the expense of others including their consumers." Hurting a company financially and being rewarded for it to the tune of 9 figures while everyone else's salary remains static sure seems to fit that definition to me.
 
OregonLAN said:
If anything, lower prices will encourage competition. While I'm not a huge fan of Amazon acquiring Whole Foods (for employment practices, etc.), I would like to see the price of "healthier" foods become more in-line with the "crap" foods sold at Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Safeway and Kroger. There's a lot of people that can't eat healthier simple because they can't afford it...
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Care to back that up with some facts? I ask, because the science indicates there's not a difference between Organic and regular food, so I'm really interested in how you've come to the conclusion that Organic Produce at these chains is inferior to Whole Foods.
 
Mr34727 said:
These comments always baffle me. CEOs are paid what they are worth. Yes, its more than everyone else and yes that hurts peoples' egos.

The company has to select the absolute best candidate for the job because so much rides on their decisions. A very select few are qualified for the position and even fewer still would be categorized as the top performers- demand creates the price.
Click to expand...
And the average CEO in the 60s worked for just 20x the average worker's pay in the 60s, when workers were significantly less productive than they are now.
 
nilepez said:
Care to back that up with some facts? I ask, because the science indicates there's not a difference between Organic and regular food, so I'm really interested in how you've come to the conclusion that Organic Produce at these chains is inferior to Whole Foods.
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I don't think he's talking about organic vs nonorganic. Mainly, heavily processed (Oreos, Doritos, etc.) vs raw foods (fruits, vegetables, meats).

A flaw though is that stores such as Walmart carries such foods, while Whole Foods also carries a ton of unhealthy garbage. But, whereas my local supermarket has 1/4 of an aisle dedicated to fruits & vegetables, Whole Foods has an entire aisle.
 
Nytegard said:
I don't think he's talking about organic vs nonorganic. Mainly, heavily processed (Oreos, Doritos, etc.) vs raw foods (fruits, vegetables, meats).

A flaw though is that stores such as Walmart carries such foods, while Whole Foods also carries a ton of unhealthy garbage. But, whereas my local supermarket has 1/4 of an aisle dedicated to fruits & vegetables, Whole Foods has an entire aisle.
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Could be. I think my Kroger has an aisle's worth of stuff...it's just not placed in a standard aisle...instead it's roughly 2 aisles wide and about 2/3 the length. I'm not sure that Sprouts has any more than they do...and IME, Albertsons is about the same. I think Central Market (TX chain) has way more, but I rarely go there, so I'm going by a memory from almost a year ago.
 
Arcygenical said:
There was already a 2200 person layoff last year.

I hope amazon doesnt force WF to reneg on their commitment to local product lines, global initiatives or employee care. The gf wprked there as management for 3 years and was treated exceptionally well.
Click to expand...

And where is the source for those 2200 layoffs?
 
Rahh said:
Salty?
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Nope, I hope they extend the mostly excellent customer service Amazon has to stores and would definitely stock up on some price glitched rib-eye. On second thought, maybe I should cut back on the salt and pepper.
 
tetris42 said:
Okay fine, let's work with your assumptions. CEOs are paid what they're worth. Why is a CEO of an international corporation on average worth 10x more than one from 50 years ago, or even from the 80s? They're paid proportionally that much more than CEOs of the past, so what are they doing today that requires paying them so much more proportionally than in the past?

Or if they're worth it, why are golden parachutes even a thing? Take Melissa Mayer, she's getting paid $186 million as compensation for POOR performance. Or why were bonuses of tens of millions of dollars given to CEOs of various financial institutions when they went bankrupt and had to be bailed out by the government in the 2008 crash?

It's not about the person on top earning more, that's expected. It's about them playing by entirely different rules than everyone else, where they benefit tremendously regardless of good or bad performance. Short of going to prison, they literally can't lose. Most jobs aren't like that.

It's like you said, "given better benefits than their worth at the expense of others including their consumers." Hurting a company financially and being rewarded for it to the tune of 9 figures while everyone else's salary remains static sure seems to fit that definition to me.
Click to expand...

Mayer tripled the stock price- I'd say there are very few people in the country who could have done the same with that company and well justifies the compensation. $186 million sounds like a lot (which it was in stocks btw, not a paycheck), but compare it to some pro athletes and it comes into perspective.

Also- I didn't say that second quote. But while its great to want to reward the "everyone else", their impact on an individual level was probably not significant compared to the CEO. And let's be clear- its about impact, not how many hours you work or how much effort you put in.
 
I've always heard Whole Food pays pretty well for retail. Under Amazon, that can't last. I expect all new hires to make minimum wage.

Edit: I see this has been mentioned already.
 
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