Whole Foods Market: 80 Bucks for Two Bags of Groceries

So on Friday morning I was sitting there trying to figure out what I'd have for dinner that night. Lately I've been on a bit of a health kick. Working out almost every day. Almost no meat in my diet. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables etc.

So I was trying to think of something excellent yet super healthy to eat for dinner tonight and my mind somehow ended up with a summer heirloom tomato salad. You know the kind, big colorful heirlooms, a little mozzarella cheese, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. YUM!

Now I haven't been to Whole Foods Market (WFMI) in a long time. Kristopher and I got some sushi there a ways back, but it's not a place I go often. But I knew Safeway (SWY) wouldn't have heirloom tomatoes, so Whole Foods in Berkeley it was.

The problem with going to Whole Foods to pick up some heirloom tomatoes is that it is sooooo easy to get distracted by all the other beautiful food there. Ohhhh, fresh organic raspberries! Oh, and just look those beautiful red peppers, etc. The kids and I even bought a coconut. We'd never had one before so we bought one and then figured out how to open it on the internet. Fun.

Anyways, everything was going ok. I had my camera with me as always and I stopped at the heirloom tomatoes and tried to shoot a couple of them with my macro lens. It was at this point that one of the helpful Whole Foods employees stopped me.

Him: "Um excuse me Sir, you can't take pictures in here."

Me: "Umm, I'm just taking a few photos of these heirlooms, they are beautiful."

Him: "It's not my policy Sir, it's corporate. No photography in the store."

Me: "But I'm going to buy the heirlooms."

Him: "I know Sir, it's corporate policy."

So at this point I put my camera away and headed on my way.

Now, I'm not protesting Whole Food's right to not allow me to shoot in their store. This is not like an incident from a public street where I tend to go agro a bit on people sometimes. This is private property. If it's their store they can set any rule they want with regards to photos.

But...

I also have every right to write a blog post and say that their anti-photography policy sucks. I mean, I'm paying them over $80 for two bags of groceries (literally, see my receipt below). The least they could do is not hassle some guy with his four kids who's trying to get a macro shot of an overpriced heirloom tomato that he is about to buy from them. Oh, and I was going to buy some of their cherry tomatoes for my salad as well but they had bugs crawling all over them. Someone at the Berkeley store should look into that. It was kind of gross.

Now I've done plenty of shooting in other grocery stores. I've never had a problem at Safeway for instance. But who knows, maybe they have a similar policy.

Whole Food's policy is stupid though. The heirloom tomato salad was awesome, but I doubt I'll be back any time soon. I didn't mind so much being price gouged on the two bags of groceries, but in general I don't like to hang out in places that give me crap about my camera. They ought to rethink that policy and make their store a friendlier place to hang out and buy stuff at.

Comments

[jimocarroll]

I agree with the poster who took you to task for not asking someone if it would be OK. I've done that at upscale shops of all kinds. I always show them a particularly artistic shot in my LCD viewfinder (but you probably shoot heirloom film too...) and offer them a print or two, or a file for their website. My shots are typically more abstract compositions. I might macro on the stem of the heirloom tomato, or drops of water from the produce sprinkler refracting the produce thrown out of focus in the background, or the recurrent glowing curves of the tomatoes as most WFMI stores stack them.

Try some honey instead of vinegar. Yours is a very eloquently-written whine, but it is still a whine. The world's tallest midget is still a midget.

[Conrad Hametner]

I agree. I had a similar experience in the Austin store. It is a ridiculous policy. Whole Paycheck really should rethink this as we approach 1 billion camera phones in the world., along with a whole lot of new consumer applications that their demographic of customer will undoubtedly use to interact with their products. I called the HQ and made a blog post on this as well: blog.qipit.com/2007/12.../

[Conrad Hametner]

I agree. I had a similar experience in the Austin store. It is a ridiculous policy. Whole Paycheck really should rethink this as we approach 1 billion camera phones in the world., along with a whole lot of new consumer applications that their demographic of customer will undoubtedly use to interact with their products. I called the HQ and made a blog post on this as well: blog.qipit.com/2007/12.../

[Big Jilm]

I'd bet that they would have allowed you to take photos of their heirloom tomatoes if you had had the courtesy of asking their permission before barging in there and snapping away. Since you acknowledge that it's "private property", I would think it would occur to you to ask first before doing something that may be considered unwanted. Basically, it was rude to assume, and you paid the price.

danielcovedill is right--everyone and their mother is trying to copy Whole Foods in every way. Just look in any conventional store. So their policy, while unfortunate, is necessary and understandable.

And speaking of prices...if you don't want to pay for expensive items, don't buy them. It's that simple. Whole Foods sells higher-quality items, which, generally, tend to be more expensive as a result. If you want to spend less money on items with lower quality, you obviously know where your local Safeway is.

I hope you're not teaching those kids to whine like you do.

[c1ue]

Safeway near the baseball stadium has heirloom tomatoes... my 2 cents

[Bill Islava]

Agree with the stop your whinning and talk about something relevant to the markets. Grocery markets. . . .you are free to shop wherever.

[radmok1]

Whole Foods is a "friendlier place to hang out and buy stuff at." You weren't just hanging out or buying stuff! You were taking photos to post on this blog for the world to see, including the competitors of WFMI.
"Normal people" don't go around shooting photographs in grocery stores. You claim, that you've "never had a problem at Safeway." This may be because nobody is trying to copy Safeway stores. Safeway is trying to copy Whole Foods stores. Since we both agree that this is within Whole Foods' rights, perhaps you should find something more important to whine about.

[AlB]

Okay - but what the hell does this have to do with finance/markets/stocks... Its old but Do you want some cheese with that w(h)ine?

Seriously though, why am I interested in your peeve/gripe????