As the article hints, this jump is likely driven in part by the millions of dollars of free advertising Whole Foods received from the news, and not simply because there were price cuts.
I am also an infrequent Whole Foods shopper. Some anecdata to share:<p>I went to Whole Foods the week before the announcement and then again today. I was very sensitive to pricing on the first visit (and, frankly, was pretty surprised at how expensive most things were). On the second visit today, I noticed big drops in the prices of certain items, such as fish, produce, and yogurt.<p>For instance, I don't think there was any fish cheaper than $15/pound before the takeover, yet today Cobo Salmon behind the counter was $10/pound (sale) and shrimp was $12/pound (regular price).<p>It was also possible to buy organic Gala apples for $1.50/pound (sale) and cauliflower at $2.50/head (normal price).<p>It's not as cheap as the "normal" supermarkets in the area, but it's more competitive than before. Of course, these could be seasonal variations -- for instance, apples are in season in New England right now.
Will it last? When I heard about the price cuts, I went in to check it out. I pretty much never shop there, so I'm part of that 25% jump. In the end I saw no real difference and no reason to return.
What categories did the price cut reflect in. I shop at wholefoods every week and I have not noticed a drop in the prices of fruits, vegetables, milk and neither in the bake/meals section.
If Whole Foods becomes anything like Amazon, their locally-sourced grass-fed beef could become commingled meat product from various fly-by-night suppliers that's just "fulfilled by Whole Foods."<p>Amazon's inability or indifference to combatting counterfeit sellers on their website has completely eroded my trust in eating the food they source.
Does anyone have any data to back up the price drops? From my anecdotal evidence it seems WF is just as expensive as it was before. I'm sure these price cuts are only on certain products so it would be interesting to know what these are.
They still have ridiculously high prices. For example: a gallon of Crystal Geyser water is $1.50, while in most other places is $1.00. What justifies a 50% premium?
I'm one of these people. I'm very price conscious and have always avoided whole foods. But after seeing the price drop, I gave them a try. My bill was a little more than usual. But given the convenience (its next door) and quality I chose to continue shopping there. I've been going regularly for about a month.
I shop at whole foods frequently mainly for fresh produce and dairy. this is largely because of its proximity to my home.
My other regular grocery chains are my local mom and pop grocery store who is about 300 feet from my house, Costco and target. I avoid Safeway as far as I can.<p>My observations are
1) my local mom and pop store carries the freshest and cheapest vegetable produce. They are alert to my needs and are doing brisk business with a regular clientele. They source their produce from the central valley ave Sacramento area using a network of independent farms.
2) Costco is great for some produce while making up the true per pound cost for other items e.g. Tomatoes. Additionally I find Costco produce to perish faster.
3) whole foods has dependable produce but at over 50% Mark ups.
My thought about this merger is, if I am HyVee or Price Chopper or whatever your local regional chain supermarket is HOW am I going to survive Amazon? They are past firing across the bow of every grocer in the US, and none of them seem to be moving to survive the Cat 10 hurricane that is Amazon. Few deliver, few have automated inventory with robots, I don't see any of them moving to compete or stem the blood bath that is coming. It reminds me of Palm and its arrogance when Apple entered the mobile phone market.
I've been trying new diets and focusing on reducing my intake of GMOs, specifically corn. For this I've been shopping at Wegman's quite a bit, avoiding Whole Foods which is closer, because of the prices. This article gives me a little hope WF is getting better. Good food costs money, at least that's what we're told, so I'm happy to see things getting more competitive, at least.
The real question is how long until Amazon starts to raise the prices again? It's a smart PR move if you think about it. Lower prices to get more shoppers in the door and then slowly raise prices to pre sale values. They already know people will gladly pay the higher prices.
Different anecdote: I am not regular whole foods, but went out of curiosity whether there will be any event related to amazon buyout or just check out if there any significant price drops.
Announced price cuts. We've been in WF before and after the buyout. Didn't see much difference. Still prefer to go to farmers markets and discount grocers like Aldi's.
People here are smart enough to realize what this is: a publicity stunt.<p>Even if you have money, shopping at Whole Foods is foolish. Amazon reduced a fraction of the items prices, they are still heavily over-priced, and the food quality for the price is low. Whole Foods is a grocery store that prices it's food high to attract a certain type of consumer. That's all.<p>If you want high quality food, I encourage you to visit a local farmer's market. There is probably one close to you every week, or every other week. There are even larger ones or speciality ones less frequently (monthly).<p>At a farmer's market you'll get high quality produce, fresh that is directly from the farm. All or most of your money will be going to people actually growing or making the food, not a large corporation, food distributor, or Amazon.<p>I really wish we would just ban grocery stores for good and try to go back to this form of food consumerism.
I went in last week to pick up a couple of things. The store was extra insane with people. I looked but didn't see anything marked down. My thought as I exited: "suckers".