marketwatch.com — Natural-foods grocer Whole Foods Markets Inc. on Wednesday said that it agreed to acquire smaller rival Wild Oats Markets Inc. for about $565 million, as it grapples with competition from larger conventional supermarkets.
Feb 21, 2007 View in Crawl 4
techscribeFeb 22, 2007
I've pretty much gotten away from shopping there. When I lived in Austin, Central Market had lower produce prices, and a lot of the grocery items Whole Foods carried were cheaper there too. Wheatsville was cheaper than either for a lot of bulk items.Where I live now, there is Trader Joe's and there is almost no reason to go to either of the Whole Foods in the area, except for the fact that TJ's produce sucks. But for produce there are farmers' markets, and independent produce markets that have better quality and lower prices than the supermarkets.
mactardFeb 22, 2007
Trader Joe's is better.
illegal_opFeb 22, 2007
Wild Whole
djbelieveFeb 22, 2007
As a former long-time employee of Whole Foods I've heard the Whole Paycheck joke way too many times...I knew it would end up here. The employees at my store had our joke: Whole Foods...where the only thing higher than the prices are the employees.Seriously though...if you only buy certain things there (sale items or 365 products for example) you can get great deals. Just don't get sucked in by all the retail tricks and impulse buys.And as far as all the dirty hippie jokes go...Whole Foods has a hell of a lot more than granola and tofu. In fact, they have some of the best tasting food you can buy in America. Hardly any hippies shopped at our store...
mindtriggerFeb 22, 2007
Yeah, I don't get what is shocking about people wanting to buy food that isn't loaded with toxins, pesticides and hormones. It's ridiculous that we have to pay more for healthier food in this country, but I will do it to avoid the poisons our government allows/encourages us to consume.
vegangFeb 22, 2007
mindtrigger, you had a point but the approach is all wrong.
vegangFeb 22, 2007
Yeah, TJ's is "okay." Just like Wild Oats and Whole Foods, you'll find things at TJ's that you won't find elsewhere, and vice versa. One annoyance of TJ's is the pre-packaged produce instead of by weight: um, what if I don't need a whole bag of onions? And surprisingly, it's not as vegetarian-friendly as you'd expect. They have a few things here and there, but that's it. They actually got rid of some vegetarian items, like the soyrizo & potato taquitoes. That pissed me right off.
bsmeteronhighFeb 23, 2007
I've noticed in Las Vegas that more strippers shop at Whole Foods than at Wild Oats. Go figure!
gbig2Mar 4, 2007
well said mindtrigger , and I like the approach.
brianne416Sep 8, 2008
I was excited about this, until I heard they sold the Henrys to Smart and Final here in Southern California. I'm in the Northern parts of Orange County and all the Wild Oats are in the Southern area of the county. I guess I'll still have to drive the 30 minutes to get to the Whole Foods store that's closest to me. Can't wait until they spread this way more.
ncnicolausMay 23, 2009
yes.. expansion of the business is good...but price need to be taken care of..as affects the large population..trying other product is not a bad idea in case of large difference in the price. acai berry trial is good to as its name is also trial..<a class="user" href="http://www.acaiberry321.com/acai-berry-trial.html">http://www.acaiberry321.com/acai-berry-trial.html</a>
lordbeakerJun 28, 2009
Who needs diversity... it's oh so nice to have only the same crap available to you in every city you visit.