Whole Foods CEO's earlier egregious behavior (stock comments, Wild Oats buyout)

[cascadiance]

So this isn't the first time he's done something stupid. I would think investors would want to get this guy fired!

Back in 2007, he apparently anonymously online trying to pump up Whole Food's stock value.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/business/13foods.html?_r=2

Chief of Whole Foods Extolled His Stock Online

By ANDREW MARTIN
Published: July 13, 2007

As his online persona Rahodeb, John P. Mackey, the co-founder and chief executive of http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=WFMI">Whole Foods Market, was unabashed in his enthusiasm for his company’s stock, albeit anonymously.

On occasion, he even made predictions on Yahoo message boards about the performance of Whole Foods, the natural foods grocer. For instance, in June 2006, Rahodeb wrote, “So long as Whole Foods same store sales are in double digits the next 2 quarters, the stock won’t trade below $50 per share (and probably not below $60).”

The previous November, Rahodeb wrote, “I was low on my 10.3% comp prediction and so were you big fella. 13.4%!!! Funny thing, they didn’t guide their comps lower as you predicted but raised guidance for next year. Wonder why they would do that?”

While Mr. Mackey has dismissed his online remarks as harmless fun, many investors and analysts were stunned that a prominent chief executive would engage in online banter with people known only as “boogertooth75” and “bluehairedfannypacker.”

Some securities laws experts, meanwhile, say that Mr. Mackey’s postings could be illegal, though the fact that they were anonymous makes the legality murky.

...

People in Oregon had already done a boycott of Whole Foods earlier after this happened, as well as a pretty nasty move by Whole Foods to get the court to subpoena competitor in Portland, Oregon, New Seasons Markets, for its financial data, so that it could "prove" that it didn't have a monopoly when anti-trust concerns were voiced by the FTC when it was acquiring Wild Oats. Of course New Seasons interpreted it as grabbing proprietary data from them so that they could be put out of business then. I wonder if this is why Mr. Mackey also likes the Republicans, if the courts under Bushco came to his aid in this fashion.

http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/12/the-whole-foods.html?cid=6a00d8341c2c3f53ef0120a5475175970c

The Whole Foods boycott starts now
Leslie Carlson

I'm spitting mad about Whole Foods' latest, thuggish attempt to mess with Portland food retailer New Seasons. You may have read the Oregonian story or New Seasons' CEO Brian Rohter's post about the subpoena asking for proprietary and confidential business information. The subpoena sent to New Seasons is part of a screwed-up merger that Whole Foods has been trying to execute with rival Wild Oats for the past 18 months.

Apparently, Whole Foods thinks that New Seasons' weekly sales figures, internal emails, marketing strategies and studies about where to open stores are integral to proving their case that the merger won't create a monopoly. They promise that the information won't go beyond their lawyers, but this is the second time that Whole Foods has tried to get confidential information out of New Seasons. Last year, Whole Foods tried to get the same information and promised that only lawyers, consultants and top management would take a peek.

I know Portland is a small city, but we're not complete idiots. This looks to me like a brazen attempt to get a leg up on New Seasons and maybe even put them out of business.

I'd rather shop at New Seasons any day, and in that I think I'm not alone. New Seasons is locally-owned and carries a wide variety of products from our regional foodshed. Whole Foods can't match their friendliness nor their local selection. I have tremendous brand loyalty to New Seasons (OK, it helps that their 7 Corners store is only a few blocks from my house, but still...) In many years of shopping there, I can't remember ever having a bad experience.
...

http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2008/12/01/screw-market-share-whole-foods-subpoenas-new-seasons-financial-and-marketing-records/

UPDATED–Screw Market Share: Whole Foods subpoenas New Seasons’ financial and marketing records.

4:00 PM December 1st, 2008 by Kelly Clarke


Brian-Rohter

UPDATED TUESDAY, DEC. 2: Whole Foods just emailed me to respond to this post. The gist? Company media relations rep Libba Letton contends that the New Seasons subpoena, one of 96 subpoenas of third parties by Whole Foods, is totally NOT about eyeballing competitors info. It’s about building a case against the FTC… Scroll down to read their full missive.

ORIGINAL MONDAY, DEC. 1 POST:

What the hell? Amidst all the reports of Wal-Mart carnage and gravy-induced comas last week, New Seasons head Brian Rohter posted a very local news bomb on the local grocery store’s blog. It seems that Whole Foods’ long-running battle with the Federal Trade Commission over whether the upscale market mega chain’s merger with Wild Oats violates federal antitrust laws has had some unexpected consequences for the Portland-owned New Seasons, which operates nine stores in and around the Rose City.

Basically, Whole Foods (270 stores and counting) is using their lawsuit as an opportunity to subpoena New Seasons’ financial and marketing records. In Battlestar Galactica terms (new episodes January 16!), they’re pretty much demanding a direct download, Cylon-style, from New Seasons’ Resurrection ship. Which is soooo not cool.

...

Eventually New Seasons sent them less data than they requested, but still seems pretty bogus for a court to ask for that too to enforce "anti-trust" allegations?

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/01/new_seasons_whole_foods_reach.html

New Seasons, Whole Foods reach compromise
by Laura Gunderson, The Oregonian
Friday January 16, 2009, 2:02 PM

The president of New Seasons Market announced today that the Portland-based chain will turn over some proprietary information requested -- though much less than originally subpoenaed -- by Whole Foods Market Inc.

As part of the agreement, Brian Rohter said, he couldn't disclose any details about the data he will hand over to one of his largest competitors.

In October, Whole Foods had subpoenaed 93 retailers and vendors asking for detailed operational data, including two years' worth of store sales figures, internal e-mails and memos, product lineups and marketing strategies to defend itself against an antitrust case filed by the Federal Trade Commission. The agency contends Whole Foods' purchase of the 110-store Wild Oats Markets in 2007 created a natural foods monopoly.

Rohter has said he had concerns about handing over such sensitive information to a competitor's lawyers as part of an order that he said didn't provide enough safeguards to keep his data confidential. Early on, Rohter estimated that he'd have to pay as much as $500,000 to sift through company documents and compile the subpoenaed information.

...

So this guy has been a right wing and unethical shill for a while, and appeared to count on the past administration's court systems and DOJ to help him build his "monopoly".

[bain_sidhe]

1. ::pssst:: spelling

It's spelled "egregious" - unless, of course, you're doing an utterly appropriate mash up of "aggravating" and "egregious" - in which case I say, WELL DONE! Or "aggressive" and "egregious," which would also be appropriate!

And here I thought Whole Foods was supposed to be one of the good guys!

[cascadiance]

2. Thanks, and I knew that too...

Sometimes my hands are disconnected from my brain when I type! :)

[bain_sidhe]

4. OOh! that happens to me too

Things I *know* how to spell right down to my bones somehow get typed wrong. I think it's the aliens, myself. You know, like Alec Baldwin. After all, I DO have a link to Hulu in my bookmarks...

But, seriously, after years of hearing how great Whole Foods is, recent revelations have been amazing to me. Not just this, but the CEO's recent comments slamming health care reform, too... (found here just this morning: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/whole-foods-ceo-slams-health-reform-angering-liberal-pro-reform-whole-foods-customers.php)

[cascadiance]

6. Probably should have referenced his health care comments here.

I'd meant to complement the earlier news with additional news to firm people's motivations to boycott them that much more.

I already don't shop there, and it was partly because I saw this earlier news when I moved to Portland. Now with this news, I'm pretty sold on never walking in to one of their stores here.

[bain_sidhe]

7. Oh! I see,

you had read about the boycott, and were adding fuel to the fire (so to speak - there is no fire, there will be no burning at the stake. There may be burning the steak, though...)

Sorry, feeling a little silly today. But anyway, my point is, your post was prompted by the health care op-ed, right?

[cascadiance]

8. Yep... The posts here today made me think a lot of what I'd heard of them earlier....

I'd earlier just shopped at Trader Joe's in San Diego, but now that I must moved here to Portland, I've really come to love New Seasons to shop at in addition to Trader Joes. It's always good that you can feel you can trust the judgement of the store to get things like no HFCS, truly organic foods, and local foods whenever possible. Then you don't have to second guess the added manipulative marketing you find in so many other stores. And it sounds like Whole Foods is getting more like that now too.

Still trying to figure out why someone would unrec this post today...

[Javaman]

3. wacky mackey as we call him here in Austin is a rabid libertarian.

need I say more?

he came out with an insane screed condemning National Health Care a few days ago in the Washington Journal. Basically saying, you don't need no stinking health care it costs to much, you need to buy more of my fruits and veggies to stay healthy.

for a guy who supports a party who hates everything government, I'm sure he would be just fine if his store caught on fire and the fire dept didn't show up, because well, they are a government supported entity.

mackey is a willing tool to do anything he can to line is pockets.

whole foods only exploded on the scene when they put several ex walmart execs on their board. funny how that works.

mackey likes to talk a big game but he's full of shit just like any ceo that states that they care about their customers. They don't give a shit about their customers, they care about what their customers buy.

all mackey did was make organic food the new pet rock. they still import their organic food from overseas.

They only started featuring "local" food when local farmers markets began cutting into their profits.

And what they offer as far as something being "local" is really lame.

support the local farmers, buy at a farmers market. Know where your food comes from and how it's grown.

[wryter2000]

5. Ye gods

I've looked at that place and thought about going in. I'm so glad I never have.

I heard someone say on the radio this morning that people in Austin call it Whole Paycheck now.