Whole Foods in a Whole Lot of Trouble 10 comments
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Whole Foods (NASDAW: WFMI) is the worst performing supermarket chain in 2008, according to Geezeo’s Main Street Spending Index.
Whole Foods has had a cult like following amongst upscale urban professionals. Aspirational shoppers even mocked their own spending by nicknaming Whole Foods: “Whole Paycheck”. Given the economic instability though, customers are staying away from Whole Foods in droves.
The table below compares the drop in average consumer spending per visit at major retail grocery chains year-to-date. Whole Foods spending dropped 19% from January to October 2008. The winner was value-branded Stop & Shop (AHONY.PK) . Stop & Shop had a slim 1.54% decrease in customer spending. Not bad for an economically volatile year.

And the numbers get worse for Whole Foods.
Not only does Whole Foods have the biggest percentage drop in spending — their customers are also spending the least per visit of all stores compared. Bleak numbers for the high-end, healthy alternative.
Whole Food’s customers spent just $28.30 on an average visit in October. By contrast, a perceived “value retailer” like Safeway (NYSE: SWY) had the largest spending average at $44.83 per visit in October.
Publix (PUSH.OB) enjoyed the next largest spending average. The average user spent $41.86 per visit in October which is a 7.81% drop since January.
Stop & Shop closely followed with average spending of $41.60 per visit.
Spend per visit at popular supermarket chains:

Yes, Whole Foods appears to be in a whole lot of trouble.
Disclosure: no positions
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This article has 10 comments:
Regular chickens eat animal waste. Just think about that the next time you buy one of those regular birds. And as for beef, one in a very large number is tested for signs of Mad Cow disease. Don't ever ask what those poor cows are eating, you'll throw up.
Some chain markets have what they call "natural" beef which means
they have no added hormones. But they are not vegetarian fed. Cows are vegetarians. What cows are often fed is the remains (corpses) of other dead cows. Nice. A thick juicy slab of corpse, medium rare please!
And then there are the eggs. Not vegetarian fed hens also eat garbage.
So, for Whole Foods to recover, all we need is another food poison
scare or some real numbers from the government on the real occurrences of Mad Cow disease.
Whole Foods is a great enterprise. Responsible, wholesome, but, pricey.
So, just go more often and buy a little less. You won't wake up at 50 with some hideous gastrointestinal or cerebral disease. Read the labels before you pay out your cash.
Your absolutlely right. I used to work for them when they took over Wild Oats and ran that into the ground, pissed off our customers with their "health food" and ultimately shut our store down leaving 50 people out of a job.
On Nov 19 05:07 PM commentastic wrote:
> Whole Foods is not a "Health Food Store" -- most of the products,
> especially in the prepared foods section, are extremely high in fat
> and sodium. They even use high-fructose corn syrup in some of their
> sauces. WF never had the guts to stop selling imports from China
> although Trader Joe's did. Buy Xmas candy canes at WF and you're
> getting nothing but marked-up Chinese junk. The risk of bacterial
> contamination in many foods is higher than average due to excessive
> handling in order to fake out the customer as if all food were made
> in the store "fresh daily" as printed on labels even though most
> food is shipped from centralized kitchens and re-wrapped without
> modern safety seals. When WF sold beef with e.coli it said "Oh my,
> we didn't know we were doing business indirectly with Nebraska Beef"
> ... Shouldn't SOMEONE know at WF prices? I'm certain they did.
> WF also sells mostly conventional - NOT organic - products - and
> sells numerous brands containing GMOs. WF supplements are mostly
> anti-science quackery with high markup. I ask, when it comes to
> your health, should you believe someone who has dedicated their life
> to medical science, or the college flunkie that works at your local
> WF ?
On Nov 19 05:07 PM commentastic wrote:
> Whole Foods is not a "Health Food Store" -- most of the products,
> especially in the prepared foods section, are extremely high in fat
> and sodium. They even use high-fructose corn syrup in some of their
> sauces. WF never had the guts to stop selling imports from China
> although Trader Joe's did. Buy Xmas candy canes at WF and you're
> getting nothing but marked-up Chinese junk. The risk of bacterial
> contamination in many foods is higher than average due to excessive
> handling in order to fake out the customer as if all food were made
> in the store "fresh daily" as printed on labels even though most
> food is shipped from centralized kitchens and re-wrapped without
> modern safety seals. When WF sold beef with e.coli it said "Oh my,
> we didn't know we were doing business indirectly with Nebraska Beef"
> ... Shouldn't SOMEONE know at WF prices? I'm certain they did.
> WF also sells mostly conventional - NOT organic - products - and
> sells numerous brands containing GMOs. WF supplements are mostly
> anti-science quackery with high markup. I ask, when it comes to
> your health, should you believe someone who has dedicated their life
> to medical science, or the college flunkie that works at your local
> WF ?