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Amazon has made its biggest acquisition ever: Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. That number includes Whole Foods' net debt:
The deal, expected to close in the second half of this year, gives the e-commerce giant — which has been experimenting with various physical store concepts to make itself a name as a food purveyor — an instant expanse of 460 high-end brick-and-mortar stores across the U.S., in Canada and in the U.K.
Whole Foods, which made its name retailing organic and fresh products, had been struggling recently amid stepped-up competition from Costco Wholesale, Trader Joe's and other grocers.
Shares of Whole Foods rose ahead of the acquisition while analysts speculated that other grocery retailers would snap up Whole Foods to keep it away from Amazon, or at least drive up the price.
Groceries are low margin and high cost businesses. This acquisition may be seen as part of a long-running war between Amazon and Walmart.
Will the shelves of Whole Paycheck be stocked by Amazonk's mighty robotic Prometheans? I think I'll shop at ALDI instead.
Previously: Walmart Plays Catch-Up With Amazon
Walmart Kills Amazon Prime-like Service, Expands Free Shipping
Amazon Shuts Down Diapers.com as Founder Runs Walmart's E-Commerce Operations
(Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Saturday June 17 2017, @12:59AM (7 children)
That's why I won't buy anything at Amazon period. They kill mom & pop shops locally, have killed independent bookstores, and now want to do the same with grocery stores.
I don't give a fuck how low the prices can be, it hurts American Workers every single time you buy anything from them. When, not if, they replace their workforce with robots, I will give a big I-Told-You-So to be people that supported them.
Ironically, Whole Foods is anything but cheap. It's for yuppies with money, and young people that apparently live consequence free on mommy & daddy's dime. Normal people can't shop there for anything but some super niche product, and that's starting to not be true. In Northern California Olliver's Market is eating their lunch, and some local shops have the specialty items cheaper than Whole Foods.
Unless Amazon can figure out how to lower Whole Food's prices by at least 50%, they're not really competing with anybody. Just existing in the high end grocery market for Elites and their House "Slaves".
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday June 17 2017, @01:04AM (1 child)
I went to Whole Foods once. I was triggered by the high prices and left.
I went back another time to pick up some enoki mushrooms since I figured my chances of finding them elsewhere were nil. They didn't have a price for them and rang them up as some other mushrooms, at a very reasonable price per lb. And then I made hot pot [wikipedia.org].
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 17 2017, @03:52AM
It depends what you're looking to buy. Most things they sell are grossly overpriced, but there are good deals to be had on things like bulk herbs if you're paying attention.
The big problem they had was that they were asking more than the competition and weren't really giving anything that other stores couldn't eventually provide. Early on they were sort of specialish in that their main competition was farmer's markets, but without the dirty hippies.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 17 2017, @01:23AM (2 children)
Elites don't like to shop amongst people flashing WIC and EBT cards.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Saturday June 17 2017, @01:26AM (1 child)
Maybe Amazon will introduce its "take items off the shelves and walk out of the store" concept into all Whole Foods locations. You have to have an Amazon account and an expensive smart phone. If you don't have either of those, you get gassed or poison darted at the entrance.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 17 2017, @05:22AM
NB! remember that poison, the dart and the blowpipe HAVE all got to be Vegan Certified Organic.
Next year's headline per Amazon's Master Plan: "Amazon buys ALDI". :)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday June 17 2017, @10:49AM (1 child)
Northern California Olliver's Market and local shops is the place to go now that Whole Foods will be ruined?
(Score: 2) by edIII on Monday June 19 2017, @07:12PM
Some of my family had shopped at Whole Foods, but every time I went the prices were so fucking ridiculous I couldn't understand how they could stay in business. They did, and still do, have some nice products that aren't in regular grocery stores. They are facing more competition for those products now from Safeway. Gluten free used to be something that only Whole Foods catered towards, now it is everyone. Now with Amazon buying out Whole Foods, whatever wholesome local image they may have had is now destroyed and replaced by Amazon's robotic corporate profit-above-all image.
As for the quality of their vegetables, who gives a shit at those prices. Olliver's competes with them on that, but the local farmer's markets kills all of them. High quality fruits, veggies, and meat are available there, and I would rather give my money to local farmers than Big Ag. That's for what I'm not getting in my garden already.
Olliver's is a premium store, and higher prices, but is at least local and helps the community out. Whole Foods just helps out some shareholders that give a fuck about nobody except money, which they hold up as their God. I don't even think that they have any programs designed to give back to local communities, and with Amazon now owning them, I'm sure they won't.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.