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06-18-2017, 07:33 PM
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#61
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 8,309
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Telly
I think it shows that even good companies can make bad decisions.
Whole Foods (AKA "Whole Paycheck") is on the skids. The premise they were based on, that people would pay more $$ for "pure" foods, has deflated. Other grocery chains are doing the same, without the large premium. There have been some newspaper stories on this recently.
The grocery business is low margin, has to be high volume, requires special handling, and product expires quickly (some in just hours!).
When a corporation buys a company that is on the skids, they (think) they have a great vision of what they will do to turn it around/merge it with their own, use, etc. In my observations and experiences, many/most of the acquisitions were ill-founded or ill-executed and were a big waste of $.
I think the "winner" today is Whole Foods shareholders, who can dump the stock today and get out!
Recency bias and aura can lead one to think that Amazon can do no wrong...
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+2
I generally agree with all of this although Bezos continues to surprise/disrupt, now I hear they want to compete with Walmart and supplement their fulfillment process. Competing with Walmart for groceries seems like a low bar in the area where I live. I don't recall anyone ever having much good to say about Walmart grocery except low prices. I was recently there out of convenience and wouldn't go back for general shopping.
__________________
...with no reasonable expectation for ER, I'm just here auditing the AP class.Retired 8/1/15.
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06-19-2017, 01:42 PM
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#62
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: City
Posts: 10,332
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IMO people are missing the point of this deal by getting all spun up about groceries.
Amazon is gaining over 400 stores and the services of over 90,000 employees, serving an upscale clientele. ( Real Estate | Whole Foods Market) Every store has good truck docks and logistics space, plus good street visibility and a generally favorable reputation in its community. The fact that these stores currently sell food and mostly support themselves make the deal easier, as the Whole Foods line of business will not eat cash while it is being refitted to be more than, or possibly not even, a food store company.
$30M per store seems a bit rich, but how else could Amazon acquire this kind of asset almost instantly? What other asset even exists that is similar? Grocery store chains tend to be regional and physically larger. Coffee shops and fast food chains are mostly franchised and their real estate is unsuitable anyway. Car dealerships, same story. I can't think of a better single option if Amazon wanted an instant infrastructure platform suitable for an expanded and closer-to-consumers marketing scope.
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Amazon is buying Whole Foods!!!
06-19-2017, 02:02 PM
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#63
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 587
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Amazon is buying Whole Foods!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldShooter
IMO people are missing the point of this deal by getting all spun up about groceries.
Amazon is gaining over 400 stores and the services of over 90,000 employees, serving an upscale clientele. ( Real Estate | Whole Foods Market) Every store has good truck docks and logistics space, plus good street visibility and a generally favorable reputation in its community. The fact that these stores currently sell food and mostly support themselves make the deal easier, as the Whole Foods line of business will not eat cash while it is being refitted to be more than, or possibly not even, a food store company.
$30M per store seems a bit rich, but how else could Amazon acquire this kind of asset almost instantly? What other asset even exists that is similar? Grocery store chains tend to be regional and physically larger. Coffee shops and fast food chains are mostly franchised and their real estate is unsuitable anyway. Car dealerships, same story. I can't think of a better single option if Amazon wanted an instant infrastructure platform suitable for an expanded and closer-to-consumers marketing scope.
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This ^
Amazon gains a distribution network and brick and mortar. I foresee a Amazon ship to store option in the future to cut out/lower their shipping costs.
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06-19-2017, 02:13 PM
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#64
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Back woods of Fennario
Posts: 1,170
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I went to my local Walmart today and was dismayed by how few shoppers there were. Giant corporations like Amazon couldn't care less about destroying family-owned businesses like Walmart. What a shame.
__________________
"Time wounds all heels...." - Groucho Marx
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06-19-2017, 02:21 PM
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#65
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: City
Posts: 10,332
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction
"According to Schumpeter, the 'gale of creative destruction' describes the 'process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one ...' "
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06-19-2017, 03:31 PM
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#66
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,198
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__________________
I thought growing old would take longer.
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06-19-2017, 03:42 PM
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#67
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gone traveling
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 3,508
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LRDave
Giant corporations like Amazon couldn't care less about destroying family-owned businesses like Walmart.
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I assume you are being sarcastic by lumping Walmart in with family-owned businesses?
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06-19-2017, 03:46 PM
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#68
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Utrecht
Posts: 2,650
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The family still owns Walmart
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_family
Mom&Pop store, it ain't. Family-owned, it is.
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08-23-2017, 09:18 AM
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#69
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,583
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Looks like Whole Foods Market shareholders approved the takeover yesterday. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...on-amazon-deal
Quote:
Whole Foods shareholders voted to bless a union with Amazon that the organic grocery chain's CEO called "love at first sight."
The approval from Whole Foods shareholders on Wednesday is one of the steps required to close the deal. It also needs the go-ahead from government regulators. Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. has said it expects the deal to close before the end of the year.
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Love the use of the word "union". It makes it sound so wholesome - which is not typical for corporate acquisitions.
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08-23-2017, 04:12 PM
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#70
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,583
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Last hurdle cleared. It's a done deal.
Quote:
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the deal within a 30-day review period without an in-depth investigation after determining the tie-up wouldn’t hurt competition, the agency said Wednesday.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-antitrust-nod
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08-24-2017, 01:43 PM
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#71
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,130
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There's a Whole Foods next to me. But, since in the future Whole Foods will be part of the collective called Amazon, one what future stores will be like. Healthy foods or hubs for food delivery or something else.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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08-24-2017, 02:28 PM
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#72
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,583
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Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer
There's a Whole Foods next to me. But, since in the future Whole Foods will be part of the collective called Amazon, one what future stores will be like. Healthy foods or hubs for food delivery or something else.
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Could be both. One core strength of WFM is the sourcing and certification of the goods it sells - a real issue in an industry where there is substantial product misrepresentation.
Amazon isn't waiting around. They closed the deal today and already announce their first initiative. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...e-foods-closes
Quote:
The company said it will begin slashing prices on a broad cross section of Whole Foods groceries Monday -- the same day the $13.7 billion deal is set to close. That will start with items such as chicken, eggs, avocados and organic farmed salmon. Amazon reeled off a long list of other plans to combine its leading e-commerce and delivery assets with the physical locations of Whole Foods stores.
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08-24-2017, 02:50 PM
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#73
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,643
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Quote:
The company said it will begin slashing prices on a broad cross section of Whole Foods groceries Monday -- the same day the $13.7 billion deal is set to close. That will start with items such as chicken, eggs, avocados and organic farmed salmon. Amazon reeled off a long list of other plans to combine its leading e-commerce and delivery assets with the physical locations of Whole Foods stores.
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This might be a negative for the brand new and highly acclaimed WF store near us as it has the reputation of being the store the "well to do" folks shop at as they can show off their BMW, MB. Bentley, etc while they pay up for the goods. If Amazon turns this into a discounter, I doubt if the existing clientele will still shop there.
__________________
*********Go Astros!*********
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08-24-2017, 03:37 PM
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#74
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
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I live pretty close to a Whole Foods store, too. But honestly, I have only been there once and that was over 13 years ago. The prices seemed awfully high. Also, many here were not too impressed with their performance after Katrina in 2005. They were just about the last grocery store in the area to complete the hard work required to return to normal operations.
It sounds like Amazon has decided to change the image of WF from "Whole Paycheck", to a more affordable store. If they can do this and keep the quality intact, that would be nice.
But what I really want is for Amazon to use this opportunity to set up Amazon Fresh delivery services here. That would be so cool.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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08-24-2017, 05:02 PM
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#75
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,405
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R
I live pretty close to a Whole Foods store, too. But honestly, I have only been there once and that was over 13 years ago. The prices seemed awfully high. Also, many here were not too impressed with their performance after Katrina in 2005. They were just about the last grocery store in the area to complete the hard work required to return to normal operations.
It sounds like Amazon has decided to change the image of WF from "Whole Paycheck", to a more affordable store. If they can do this and keep the quality intact, that would be nice.
But what I really want is for Amazon to use this opportunity to set up Amazon Fresh delivery services here. That would be so cool.
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Looks like you will have some perks at WFM because you are a Prime member.
Amazon Prime Whole Foods discount - Business Insider
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08-24-2017, 05:15 PM
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#76
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
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__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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08-25-2017, 11:25 AM
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#77
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,602
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Yes, waiting on the Prime Member perks to see how well WFM then compares to Trader Joe's and the homegrown version: Puget Consumer Coop (PCC Natural Markets).
Rita
__________________
Only got A dimple, would have preferred 2!
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08-25-2017, 02:24 PM
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#78
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,130
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Watched a story of Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods on the morning news with only a passing interest (I rarely go to Whole Foods currently) until a mention that Amazon may make Whole Foods one of the Amazon Locker locations to pick up deliveries. Well, that sounds like a really good idea for when I can't wait for the UPS or Amazon delivery person .
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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08-27-2017, 07:04 AM
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#79
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,130
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Gonna stop by a Whole Foods tomorrow to see how much an avocado goes for. To see if Amazon's Whole Foods is worth the hype. Mr. Avocado will tell .
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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08-27-2017, 11:23 PM
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#80
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Thousand Oaks
Posts: 1,111
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Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer
Gonna stop by a Whole Foods tomorrow to see how much an avocado goes for. To see if Amazon's Whole Foods is worth the hype. Mr. Avocado will tell .
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Just an aside: Their 365 generic brand stuff is pretty good and already priced well - the rest , well it can use some price cuts [emoji849]
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