Local NYC Grocers Unhappy with Amazon-Whole Foods Deal

Whole Foods holds a 2.7 percent market share in the $611.9-billion grocery store industry. I woke up, and I told my wife about it. “I think that where Amazon may add the most value is to speed up the process of perfecting the 365 by Whole Foods model and scaling it quickly thanks to its greater resources. That’s really weird, isn’t it?”

“It’s been a whirlwind courtship”, Mackey went on. I love the passion these guys have around the customer. Mergermarket’s Lim says the first challenge for Amazon is how to successfully run a physical supermarket chain. “This is not a Tinder relationship.I got a feeling I’m off script”.

In a town-hall meeting last Friday, the day it was announced that Amazon had agreed to buy the organic grocer for $13.7 billion, Mackey said his company had prioritized employees at the expense of customers – a trend he said would change after the merger. But Whole Foods has lost market share to rivals Kroger Co, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Costco Wholesale Corp and others that have elbowed into the natural and organic segment Whole Foods pioneered. But based on Mackey’s stirring testimony, it would take an very bad lot to make star-crossed lovers out of Amazon and Whole Foods.

Technology will replace the cashier jobs at Whole Foods, using sensor technology that’s being pioneered at the experimental Amazon Go store concept in Seattle, according to the report.

Groceries can be a lure – one that consumers can’t live without – which could result in more sales of Kindle e-books and other high-margin goods that could end up on Whole Foods’ shelves.

The chief executive of the America’s largest whole foods grocery chain, which has been ranked for 20 consecutive years as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by Fortune magazine, also spoke about options for its staff that will come from its new parent company, Amazon.

“We’re gonna evolve. So I can’t say there’s not gonna ever be any changes”, he said. That’s a significant boost in numbers for the Seattle company, which now operates fewer than 100 distribution centers in the U.S.

Amazon has gained over $14 billion on its market capitalization following the announcement.

Experts note that most Whole Foods shoppers are already familiar with Amazon and are lining up for what could be a smooth transition.

Turner also explained to CNBC that Amazon has two important food initiatives – fresh food and restaurants – and is likely not to let either “wither on the vine”.

Nan Griffith, a retired teacher, shops at a Whole Foods outside Detroit because of its selection of vegan products, including niche brands that aren’t widely available elsewhere.

But Whole Foods has struggled in recent years, and the $33.06 price was about half where Whole Foods stock was trading at its peak in October 2013.