It seems like all of those former Dominick's locations that have sat dormant with "Whole Foods Coming Soon" signs on them are actually now "Coming Soon". The company is finally starting to develop them.

Pretty sure they've been working on most of them the whole time--guessing some of those stores needed a lot of work to WholeFoodize them, particularly the ones they're turning into the fancy flagships.

I've been told by trusted sources that Whole Foods has been dragging their feet on applying for permits and submitting plans, at least here in Evanston.

Whole Foods Market, facing its worst sales slump in more than a decade, is taking a step that would have been unthinkable in its high-flying days: shrinking the size of the chain.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

Dave148 wrote:

Whole Foods Market, facing its worst sales slump in more than a decade, is taking a step that would have been unthinkable in its high-flying days: shrinking the size of the chain.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

On the other hand, Aldi is spending big to expand and update their stores. This can't be good news for WFM.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

this bothers me not at all. i try to do as much of my shopping as possible at fresh thyme market on elston before i even consider whole foods (after hitting the dill pickle food coop and the farmer's market). maybe when the improved aldis add more organics i'll check it out.....in addition to slowing down growth, i hope whole foods tries lowering some prices, too.

Whole Foods Market Inc. shares rose the most in two weeks after the Financial Times reported that Albertsons Cos. is considering a takeover of the organic grocer.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

Amazon is buying Whole Foods in a deal valued at $13.7 billion

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/amazon-i ... llion.html

Dave148 wrote:

Amazon is buying Whole Foods in a deal valued at $13.7 billion

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/16/amazon-i ... llion.html

Is something between the lines?

Lenny007 wrote:
Is something between the lines?

Total world domination by Amazon, perhaps?

Drone delivery? Cloud Computing? Innovation Seminars? Gluten Free Non GMO Sustainable Farm Fresh Hyper-Glocal Thought Leadership?

Tyrgyzistan wrote:Drone delivery? Cloud Computing? Innovation Seminars? Gluten Free Non GMO Sustainable Farm Fresh Hyper-Glocal Thought Leadership?

Drones are not the answer here, but you know it. I say just look at it the way it is.

AMZN with $136 Bil annual revenues and 13% rising operating cash flow margin just bought grocery chain WFM that has under $16 Bil revenues with 7% falling operating cash flow margin (or $1.1 Bil) for slightly below $14 Bil or 13 x operating cash flow.

So even if AMZN borrows $10 Bil with 3%-4% coupon it would still have $600 -$700 Mil positive cash flow on annual basis, which is likely to get down to near zero after regular capital expenditures by WFM.

So what is we don't see.

Tyrgyzistan wrote:Drone delivery? Cloud Computing? Innovation Seminars? Gluten Free Non GMO Sustainable Farm Fresh Hyper-Glocal Thought Leadership?

It'll allow them to expand their Prime Now service to a large portion of the country without having to rely on reigonal grocery chains.

Whole Foods prices to fall when Amazon deal closes on Monday

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... l#nws=true

Here is an article in Barron's about the takeover of WF by Amazon.

http://www.barrons.com/articles/why-ama ... 1503607565

It sounds like you will be able to pick up your Amazon package at WF. I assume that means that I won't get charged for shipping.

NFriday wrote:Here is an article in Barron's about the takeover of WF by Amazon.

http://www.barrons.com/articles/why-ama ... 1503607565

It sounds like you will be able to pick up your Amazon package at WF. I assume that means that I won't get charged for shipping.

They're going to have Amazon Lockers, just a secure location for you to retrieve packages if you don't want them left sitting on your doorstep until you get home. You'll still have to pay shipping charges.

It is interesting that apparently 70% of all the people who regularly shop at WF also belong to Prime. I wonder if WF is going to continue to have their app? Does anybody here use the app at WF?

Amazon officially took over WF today. Eventually they are going to give deals to WF customers who are also members of Prime. They have already lowered prices on select items in the store, with more to come. Most of the items that they have lowered the price on are organic. For example their organic rotisserie chicken is now going to be $9.95. The only thing that they have lowered prices on that I ever buy there is bananas. Their eco grown bananas are going to be $.49, and their organic bananas are going to be $.69 a pound. Here is a link to their announcement on Amazon's website.

https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=as_li_ss_t ... 596ce91d7f
Bloomberg news also has an article about this.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -first-day
Hope this helps, Nancy

I was driving right past there, and so I decided to stop at the WF on Green Bay in Evanston tonight, and I compared prices. They have lowered prices on some of their stuff, including a few things that weren't listed on Bloomberg's list. They had organic milk marked down, but they did not have conventional milk any lower. I believe it was $3.99 a gallon. I know this is the same price as dean's milk at Jewel, but Jewel frequently puts their own milk on sale for $1.99 a gallon, and at the Chicago Avenue Jewel, it is $2.69 all the time. WF had a lot of empty shelves in the store tonight. Maybe they were waiting to order stuff until Amazon officially took them over. One thing I noticed is that WF has a 5% day scheduled for Haven middle school on 9/20 at that store, and so hopefully they are still going to have those. Hopefully they are still going to have the WF coupon books too. You can combine a WF store coupon with a manufacturer's coupon. Hope this helps, Nancy

How do Whole Foods' newly lowered prices compare?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

I did notice today that Whole Foods has lowered the price on one of my guilty pleasures, mochi ice cream balls (I'm addicted to the mango). They are now $2/each. They used to be $3.

I was in Jewel yesterday, and bought some frozen yogurt, a gallon of milk, and a loaf of bread. I noticed though that they have marked their bananas down to $.49 again. A few weeks ago they raised them to $.55 a pound, and some of the people over at mashupmom were complaining about that. Personally I don't ever buy bananas this time of year when I can get so much local fruit that is much better. I can understand though if you are packing a lunch for your kids, bananas work out much better than blueberries.

I went home to a family reunion two weeks ago, and my sister that took over the farm after my father died, gave me over a half bushel of fruit. I still have lots of apples left, but I just finished all of the plums, nectarines, and peaches. this morning.
Thanks, Nancy

Hi- I was at the downtown Evanston WF today, and I looked around some more, and I noticed that their oatmeal in bulk has gone down in price to $1.49 a pound, and so I got some of that today. I originally came in to purchase a quart of Wallbaby plain yogurt. That is my favorite yogurt. They did not lower the price of that, but it is $5.99 when it is not on sale at Jewel, and it is $3.69 all the time at WF. I also bought a can of beans and a jar of peanut butter. Neither of those were reduced, but the beans were only $.79. I also noticed that besides the organic rotisserie chicken which they have lowered to $9.99, they have lowered the price of the other rotisserie chicken to $7.99 every day. It is $7 at Jewel and Mariano's, and they don't use air chilled, free range chicken like whole foods does. I don't know if WF will continue to have the $7 special on rotisserie chicken on Tuesdays. I love their rotisserie chicken. Mariano's is OK, and Jewel's is kind of so so. The last time I bought a rotisserie chicken at Jewel was when they had it on sale for $5, and I had a $2 off coupon from the Monopoly game, and that is about all it was worth.

One thing I noticed is that they did not have any new WF coupon books out. Hopefully they are going to stock them in a few days. Hope this helps, Nancy

Gee…if more LTH regulars post favorable comments on recent WF visits, like NFriday and Stevez, we might need to change the name of this thread.

I'm selective about what I purchase at WF. I buy the majority of my spices there. I love the Spice House, but there are some spices that I don't use a whole lot such as sage, and thyme, and you have to buy more at the Spice House of those spices than I would use in a year. I also often buy plain yogurt at WF because the brand that I love is way cheaper at WF than it is anywhere else. I sometimes buy domestic Parmesan there too, and peanut butter, as well as rotisserie chicken.

For those people who are fans of Cedar's hummus, they currently have it on sale for $2.50, and they also have coupons posted at the hummus display at the downtown Evanston store for $1 off any two Cedar's products.

NFriday wrote:I love the Spice House, but there are some spices that I don't use a whole lot such as sage, and thyme, and you have to buy more at the Spice House of those spices than I would use in a year.

I don't think this is accurate. They'll weigh out just about anything in the store for you at Spice House in Evanston, even amounts that are smaller than the small jars sold at most grocery stores. And their stuff is way fresher, too.

=R=

I love the Spice House, and I would get all my spices there, but you have to get a minimum of 2 ounces, and there are some spices I only use a few times a year, and most of it would go to waste. I do buy their cinnamon because I use it in my oatmeal all the time, and I buy their mulling spices and basil. I only use cardoman when I make limpa bread maybe twice a year. The bulk spices at WF are still fresher, and way cheaper than most stuff you would get in a jar at Jewel. Maybe I was wrong, and you only have to get an ounce, but I thought it was 2 ounce bags or 4 ounce bags or bottles. When I go into WF, I frequently only get 1/2 an ounce of some spices.

NFriday wrote:I love the Spice House, and I would get all my spices there, but you have to get a minimum of 2 ounces

Definitely not true. You can buy as little as an ounce if anything they have. Maybe even less, although an ounce of anything isn't all that much (unless you're talking saffron).

jimd wrote:Gee…if more LTH regulars post favorable comments on recent WF visits, like NFriday and Stevez, we might need to change the name of this thread.

Eh,

I went to the flagship today on Kingsbury. It was my 2nd visit in several years to any WFM ( my other visit was to the Fullerton location and it was also at best unremarkable). WFM just is not the way I remember it.

The produce looks better than Mariano's but that is a pretty low bar and it feels disconnected for cooking at home. I saw a lot of folks buying prepared foods, drinking coffee, beer, wine.
This used to be a one-stop shop for me. I am not certain it will even regularly get added to the rotation now.

I was at the WF on Green Bay about a month ago, to get some tarragon for a dish I was making. I went to the bulk spice section, and they did not have tarragon in bulk. Spice House was closed for the day, and so that was not an option. I ended up going to the downtown Evanston WF the next morning, where I was able to purchase my tarragon. I really liked the Green Bay store when it opened up, but it is more geared to people that live on already prepared food, and don't cook. It seems like all of the WF stores have downsized their bulk department. I used to be able to buy wheat germ in bulk and they don't offer that anymore. I wish they had bread yeast in bulk like Oak Street Market used to years ago, but they don't, because nobody makes their own bread There has never been a one stop shop for me. In the past week I have been to WF, Jewel and the farmer's market, and the great majority of my money was spent at the farmer's market.

I am not a big fan of Trader Joe's, and only go there 2-3 times a year. I was there several weeks ago to purchase their Greek olive oil though. That is one of the few things I buy there, and they were crazy busy, and most people were buying way more than I was. I think the store appeals more to people that don't cook much who mostly buy their already prepared stuff.