Hard Times for Whole Foods

[marmar]

AP, via NY Times:



Income Falls as Whole Foods Suspends Dividend
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 5, 2008



Whole Foods Market Inc., the natural foods grocer, said Tuesday that its third-quarter net income dropped more than 30 percent largely because of costs associated with its proposed acquisition of Wild Oats and an economic slowdown that has hurt consumer spending.

Its shares sank in after-hours trading as the company also drastically lowered its outlook for 2009, suspended its dividend and said it would open fewer stores next year.

“We are committed to improving our financial results and believe these proactive steps are necessary to manage through the current challenging environment,” the chief executive John Mackey said in a statement.

The company earned $33.9 million, or 24 cents a share, for the three months ended July 6, down from $49.1 million, or 35 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. It estimated that the purchase of Wild Oats was responsible for a $4.9 million, or 3 cents a share, impact on the net income.

Whole Foods reported revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, up from $1.51 billion in the previous year.

The results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, as analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a profit of 31 cents a share on revenue of $1.9 billion. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/business/06food.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[mucifer]

1. One of the Chicago whole foods has been closed down because it has rats.

They lobbied to have it reinspected. It got reinspected. They still found rat droppings.

[marmar]

2. That's just nasty....

If I'm going to pay $8 a pound for turkey slices, I'd prefer that they be rat dropping-free.

:puke:

[Kutjara]

3. But they were ORGANIC rat droppings!

None of that GM...er...crap.

[valerief]

16. Pretty soon all of America will be infested. Just wait until the infrastructure

crumbles.

[Kutjara]

17. Hell, if the bees keep dying off and...

...most of the corn is used for fuel and the vegetables are all bathed in salmonella, rats will become a delicacy.

[valerief]

18. Mmm. Rat stew and pigeon milk. nt

[tbyg52]

4. I'm not terribly surprised.

I haven't been impressed with the one in Houston nor our new one here in DeLay land. But I must admit that I've never "got" Starbucks, either..... ;)

[MUAD_DIB]

7. There was a WF in Massachussetts with the same problem.

The local television station interviewed the WF manager who said that the "mouse" problem wasn't significant and that they didn't eat anything.

Strange he would say that since there were mouse droppings on site.

[Mojambo]

5. Not a shock. It's fucking expensive to shop there

I couldn't afford to shop there during good economic times.

[emilyg]

24. Same here.

Been to one twice. I can do much better elsewhere.

[kestrel91316]

6. I can't shop at WF near as much as I'd like. I pretend I'm in Paris

and they are one of those very fancy stores where you just buy a few really nice pricey items, not your whole week's worth of groceries.........

[marmar]

8. Somehow the Whole Foods cheese aisle just doesn't quite replace Rue des Rosiers....

N'est-ce pas? :)

[AllieB]

9. No unfortunately.

:cry:

I stayed at the corner of rue des Rosiers in late May/early June. There was an awesome fromagerie near the St. Paul Metro stop.

[marmar]

13. I've been to Paris several times, love the Marais district but I've never stayed there....

..... We always end up in one of the overtly touristy districts like Quartier Latin or 9e.

[AllieB]

20. Don't you just love Paris?

My sister lived there for a few years in the '90s and I was her most frequent visitor. :-)

We always stay in the Marais. I like the Quartier Latin and St. Germain also, but they seem to be more expensive and geared toward tourists.

BTW my avatar is of the 'metro bunny', in case you didn't notice. ;-)

[marmar]

23. I noticed your metro bunny.....And Paris is the greatest city in the world.

:loveya:

[natrat]

11. oui, but way better than safeway

[kestrel91316]

12. How about the chocolate shops? And the macaroon stores

with all the exquisite boxes?

Heck, WF cheeses pale in comparison to those at the little weekly village markets in France......I especially liked the goat cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with twine.

[taught_me_patience]

10. I shopped there once a year ago

I'm sorry, I'm never going to pay $14.99/lb for salmon. The place is a complete rip off. You have to be a serious yuppy douche bag to shop there.

[natrat]

14. it's nice shopping at high end food shops but yeat it's pricey

life is short so why not enjoy nice things if possible

[taught_me_patience]

15. You can buy the same "organic" stuff

at safeway for 1/2 the price. I've never seen wild caught salmon at safeway for anything near $14.99/lb. I looked at that price and just thought WTF

[tired_old_fireman]

19. You have to be a simple minded asshole to call everyone

who shops at a certain store a "yuppy douche bag"

It's yuppie, not "yuppy"

[Blue Belle]

21. There's a reason why they call it "Whole Paycheck"...

few can afford to shop there.

[catchnrelease]

22. Oh the irony

I used to do some of my shopping at Wild Oats, and while a bit pricey, still not as bad as WF. Since last year, when WO was taken over by WF, the store has been crammed to the gills with more items. While this might sound like a good thing, it makes shopping a nightmare. The amount of merchandise stuffed into the original floor space makes the whole store more difficult to navigate....god help you if there is another person with a basket in the same aisle that you are trying to get through. There are free standing displays of various items stuck everywhere. Wild Oats used to be roomy and it was pleasant to shop there.

And that's not even getting to how much the prices have gone up. Thanks to Trader Joes and the little health food grocery store I've since found, I rarely go into Whole Foods anymore.

[Heddi]

25. Their prices are *SO* ridiculous

like someone said upthread, you can get equally "organic" and free-range products at Safeway and Trader Joe's for 1/2 the price.

I went to Whole Foods once to find some "exotic" something or other for a recipe that I was sure I couldn't find anywhere else. I was just aghast at the prices of food. There was a loaf of bread. BREAD. that was $8.90. FOR BREAD. NINE DOLLARS FOR A LOAF OF BREAD. The vegetables were equally expensive....$4/lb for tomatoes, head of lettuce for $3.50....give me a fucking break.

Eventually I found the exotic whatever it was I was looking for and refused to pay the price. $12 for a jar of Tahini (I was naieve and thought that was an exotic food). So I thought 'Oh well...now I'll never be able to make hummus". I went to Safeway and oh my god. There was the EXACT SAME BRAND OF TAHINI for $4 a jar.

Oh and the "organic" lettuce at Safeway is $.99 a head. And the organic tomatoes are $3 a pound. And the most exoticy exotic free-range organic bread at the really good baker down the street is $5.

---
Before I was a nurse, I was in marketing. It is a very well known fact that people will automatically pay more for something if they feel it improves their status with others, or are told that the item they are buying is some how more special than one that is lower priced, even if the two items are EXACTLY THE SAME. People equate higher prices with higher quality, even if the higher priced item is a generic black-label shelf item.

People are suckered by Whole Foods. They feel that those loaves of bread are somehow MORE GOOD BETTER *because* they are $8 a loaf. THey need no PROOF that the loaves are MORE GOOD BETTER other than the price. The price *alone* signifies it's worth---not the taste, or how it's made, or the ingredients.

$15/lb Salmon is TRIPLE PLUS GOODER than $5/lb salmon because the price is TRIPLE, therefore the QUALITY is triple.

These are well-knowns to those in advertising and marketing. Want some generic knock-off to sell like hot-cakes and appear to be primo or chi-chi? Mark it up by 200%. People will have no qualms spending $199 on a piece of shit that they would have never even LOOKED at when it cost $2.

[Retrograde]

26. I like their fish

and it's within walking distance of my house, so I'll shop there if I only need a few things and I need to get in my daily walk anyway. Some things are comparable to other stores, some are a lot more.

I have noticed that quality and selection varies from store to store.

[Atman]

27. Whole Foods is just too damned expensive

There are many other alternatives if you really want to shop for organics and other "whole" foods. These guys just tried to make a boutique experience out of eating properly, and it's bitten them on the ass.

.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. I shop at a neighborhood food co-op

Almost everything is the same as or even less than the "organic" sections of the major supermarkets.

[Snarkturian Clone]

29. I love how DUers always say they're poor and then

will make a point of saying they shop at Whole Foods. Anyone who has the ability to shop at Whole Foods on a regular basis is rich.