PROFILE B Y E L E N A S U L L I VA N
WHAT’S NEXT FOR WHOLE FOODS? Whole Foods Market, the world’s largest natural foods grocery chain, headquartered in Austin, Texas, was founded in 1980. Whole Foods established the supermarket concept in natural and organic foods retailing and offers a variety of healthconscious foods that boast attributes such as non-GMO, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free ingredients. The company operates more than 500 stores throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. Whole Foods offers shoppers an impressive array of private label products and approximately 55% of its private label brand offerings are either certified organic or “Non-GMO Project Verified.” The retailer markets its main private label under the Whole Foods Market and 365 by Whole Foods Market labels. Other private label brands include, but are not limited to, Allegro Coffee, Whole Paws, and Engine 2 Plant-Strong. Whole Foods has made several acquisitions and retail initiatives over the years, adding to its profile organic retail outlets and brands including Wellspring Grocery, Mrs. Gooch’s, Fresh Fields, Bread of Life, and Merchant of Vino. Its largest purchase took place in 2007, with the acquisition of 109 Wild Oats Markets. In 2016, the retailer tried out a new initiative geared towards shoppers looking to buy organic and natural items at a value, opening its first stores under the new name 365 by Whole Foods. The 365 stores—named for the Whole Foods’ private label, were smaller and carried less expensive merchandise than the company’s regular outlets. However, in 2017, Whole Foods revamped its board as the company faced continued declining sales.
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GLOBAL RETAIL BRANDS / MAY 2021
Craig Weller Renee Lawson Hardy John Mackey
Shortly thereafter, Whole Foods was acquired by online retail giant, Amazon. The deal, which was valued at more than $13 billion, closed in August, 2017. Amazon was intent on revamping Whole Foods image as a retailer that only offered products at premium prices. The online retailer soon closed the 365 stores and began lowering prices in regular Whole Food Market locations. Other changes followed. Whole Foods’ products were folded into Amazon’s e-commerce platform and Amazon Prime became part of Whole Foods’ rewards program. Amazon also updated its logistics and merchandising operations with the goal of lowering prices even further and also added several features into the Whole Food stores which would garner attention from existing Amazon shoppers who might not yet be Whole Food customers. For example, Amazon Lockers were installed in select Whole Foods locations, enabling shoppers to pick up and return online orders from Amazon.com. Additionally, expanding on its own grocery delivery operations, Whole Foods ended its partnership with Instacart in early 2019 and now utilizes Amazon Fresh and AmazonPrime for its deliveries.
