Thoughts on Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger

The title says it all. Waddaya think?

[Jenise]

Offhand, it makes me sad. The more individuality in the marketplace, the better, and though I found the two stores similar I didn't find them identical. That said, Whole Foods had the broader variety and selection and I can see Wild Oats benefitting from the new partner.

Here in Santa Fe they are saying that the merger will not result in any lost jobs, although they apparently aren't planning on keeping the Wild Oats store open. Hmm.

I don't shop much at either place, mainly because of their inconvenient locations, impossible parking situations, and high prices.

And we try to stick with local produce when it's in season. I'm a gardener (organic) and we also go to the Farmer's Market.

I agree on principle with Jenise, however. Variety and competition are good things. (Just look at what happend to FM radio in this country!)

Since they have just opened a block long and wide store in Portland, ME; we were wondering what would become of the Wild Oats we had been frequenting just another block away. Guess this answers the question.

We had a Wild Oats store in Sacto a few years back that closed due to lack of customers. The Whole Foods that opened up a couple of years later is going strong. Part of that is due to the locations, but I think part is also due to Whole Foods' better focus on both organic produce and luxury necessities like exotic cheeses. Our Wild Oats was sort of a half-assed attempt at the Whole Foods thing. They had organic produce but not nearly the selection that Whole Foods does. I don't think they had anything close to the meats or cheeses that Whole Foods does. Perhaps our store was not indicative of Wild Oats stores in general, but it just wasn't all that great.

Mike

[Jenise]

We had a Wild Oats store in Sacto a few years back that closed due to lack of customers. The Whole Foods that opened up a couple of years later is going strong. Part of that is due to the locations, but I think part is also due to Whole Foods' better focus on both organic produce and luxury necessities like exotic cheeses. Our Wild Oats was sort of a half-assed attempt at the Whole Foods thing. They had organic produce but not nearly the selection that Whole Foods does. I don't think they had anything close to the meats or cheeses that Whole Foods does. Perhaps our store was not indicative of Wild Oats stores in general, but it just wasn't all that great.

Mike

That's kind of the way the Wild Oats that opened in Seal Beach when I lived in Huntington struck me. A lot like Whole Foods, but mostly not as good for me because of the lack of variety in what you so aptly term "luxury neccessities". But for the average organic-minded Birkenstock type, they might have been better, especially if a variety of boxed cereals was important. And their prices were overall lower than Whole Foods.

Cynthia, you've got one of the best WFM's I've ever seen in Santa Fe. With the worst parking lot.

The bigger they get, the harder it is to supply with small, local producers. In the interest of corporate uniformity, the buyers will be going after 1000 case lots of wine, tons of melons, etc. They won't be able to bring in high quality, small producer items that people like me want.

I rarely go to our Whole Foods Market--with their prices. I have a Wild Oats just a couple of blocks from my house. And when WFM moved in, Wild Oats lowered their prices, plus they've got enough different stuff to usually satisfy me. I hate to see competition merge. We have enough Sprawl-Marts.

Speaking of terrible parking lots, you should see Trader Joe's in Albuquerque. It's like they hired some architect to design the worst configuration possible. It's difficult to even get in or out of the parking lot or bend your car into the parking slots. With such traffic jams, many people park on the shoulders of the adjoining street. And I even avoid going there on certain days and at certain times. Not smart on their part.

Whole Foods has been dominating certain segments of the Bay Area market. Luckily, out here in the Valley, we have Nugget Market, which is a nicer than ordinary grocery store with great wines, good cheese, a great deli, and decent produce. Prices are not bad-actually lower than Safeway on many things.

In the Bay Area, the local East Bay chain Andronico's is being spanked by Whole foods, among other reasons. (East Bay folks-the Lunardis Market in Danville that replaced Andronicos is firesaling some of their wines, like $35 off retail!)

There are still an amazing number of smaller grocery stores and chains in the Bay Area. There is now a fancy Bristol Farms store in the new downtown mall in San Francisco.

In the Bay Area, the local East Bay chain Andronico's is being spanked by Whole foods, among other reasons. (East Bay folks-the Lunardis Market in Danville that replaced Andronicos is firesaling some of their wines, like $35 off retail!)

Whole Foods actually managed to get our Sacramento Food Co-op folks to spank themselves. When WF opened up out here, the Co-op management went into a panic over the potential loss in business. Apparently, WF (although a good half-hour-plus drive away from the Co-op location in downtown) was expected to take away all of the organic shoppers in the entire metropolitan area. The Co-op management responded by hiring consultants who convinced them that they needed a second location (despite many of the Co-op members being strongly against the idea). They spent a ton of money using green construction techniques to put in a store in Elk Grove, south of Sacto. Which tanked. So now, as Co-op members, we've lost most of our membership benefits and had our dues increased to fund a store that no longer exists. Meanwhile, the downtown location continues to be as busy as ever, with no apparent loss of customers to WF.

Mike

Speaking of terrible parking lots, you should see Trader Joe's in Albuquerque.

Ha! It's a dream compared to the one in Santa Fe, Larry! I don't go there at all.

Someone I know who is familiar with TJ's management philosophy/plan says that the bad parking is planned. It is to give the appearance of always being crowded, busy, and popular. I don't know if I believe it, but it sure sounds plausible when you look at the consistency with which this occurs over many, many, many of their stores.

I complain about how their parking lot sucks every time I go to TJ's, and the clerks agree with me. And when I tried to contact them before they moved to Albuquerque, I discovered there's no way to do so on their website.

I only do Whole Paycheck when there's no other choice. What an awful store- stunningly high prices, quack stuff, OK-not-great quality, mediocre selection, and an attitude from the staff. Andronico's seems to have gone waaaaay downhill in the past few years. I haven't been back in a while.

I'm heading down to my favorite store today, Berkeley Bowl. Can't complain about the parking lot because you can never get a space there. The staff seems to compete for the prize for Most Piercings in Odd Locations and has a worse attitude than WP. Checkout lines are interminable. But the produce.... oh, my. Makes it all worthwhile.

Brian, where is Nugget? As long as I have to drive for hours to go shopping somewhere decent, I may as well check out all my options.

Brian, where is Nugget? As long as I have to drive for hours to go shopping somewhere decent, I may as well check out all my options.

There's one in Vacaville. When I lived there, I went there all the time. Decent stuff and decent prices.

Speaking of terrible parking lots, you should see Trader Joe's in Albuquerque.

Ha! It's a dream compared to the one in Santa Fe, Larry! I don't go there at all.

Someone I know who is familiar with TJ's management philosophy/plan says that the bad parking is planned. It is to give the appearance of always being crowded, busy, and popular. I don't know if I believe it, but it sure sounds plausible when you look at the consistency with which this occurs over many, many, many of their stores.

I'm not sure I'd believe TJ's bad parking is planned. TJ's are rarely ever situated in buildings or equipped with parking lots built expecting a TJ's to move in. I'm guessing instead it's the inadvertent result of the kind of location TJ's looks for - which is to say, low rent but in an area with favorable demographics (moderately upscale or at least aspiring in that direction). Locations in upscale areas but with low rents are that way for reasons and bad parking is one of them. Whatever the cause of the TJ parking syndrome, though, there's no doubt that it exists. I can think of a couple that aren't bad but as a general rule, they're a real pain to get in and out of.

Brian, where is Nugget? As long as I have to drive for hours to go shopping somewhere decent, I may as well check out all my options.

Where'd Brian go?

Anyway, they're off of Monte Vista, in Vacaville. Very good for a chain supermarket with lots of reasonably-priced wine, in-house bakery, big cheese selection, coffee bar, even some small appliances. Also named one of the "Top 100 companies to work for in America" by one of the larger business publications. We do a lot of shopping at their Davis and Sacto locations. Just don't expect Berkeley Bowl-level produce or Acme-level bread. They're very good but not that good.

Mike

But Vacaville is a LOT closer and I don't have to deal with the damn bridge. Thanks!

I went by there today and noticed that they're re-vamping the old Nut Tree, just east of the Nugget. It's the most amazing strip-mall wonderland I've ever seen. Every conceivable Borders/BevMo/Best Buy/Sports Chalet type of chain store appears to be going in there. I was awed.

Mike

You were this close and didn't come over to drink?!?

We visited the brand new Whole Foods in Portland, ME today. It is a beautiful store, though not quite as big as some we have seen in Texas and elsewhere. You certainly can spend your whole paycheck there if you are not careful; we tore hell out of a C-note and more. The wine selection is wonderful and fairly priced. I talked to their wineguy for about fifteen minutes and was impressed. We picked up four bottles there at the $10 price point, and could have spent up to $160 per bottle.

A very very nice store, and it will pull a lot of business from this whole regionl.

[James Roscoe]

I love ressurecting old posts. This morning's Washington Post reported that the FTC has filed suit to stop this merger citing the monopoly Whole Foods would have over the health and organic food market. Whole foods counters that it is just another supermarket and therefore the merger doesn't affect the broader market. The FTC response to that arguement is, "Yeah, right." The suit will be in Denver. I assume the merger is off for a while at any rate.

Would that someone took the FTC behind the barn and killed it with the sharp end of a shovel. Morons.

[James Roscoe]

Would that someone took the FTC behind the barn and killed it with the sharp end of a shovel. Morons.

Explain? You like monopolies? I am neither pro nor con, just curious as to such a viceral reaction.

Monopolies? What are you talking about? There's LOTS of food stores and no barriers to entry for new ones. This is just a decision made against the interests of the shareholders of the two companies who actually have something at stake here, unlike the bureaucrats who just cost them a pile of money.