100%(!) Price Hike at Whole Foods If inflation should ever rear its ugly head again, here’s a prediction about where it will first appear: no, not at the gas pump, in your cable bill, or at the pharmacy counter. More likely in the grocery aisle. Exhibit A: Whole Foods’ just-doubled price for a cup of prepared...Read More
Credit Card Signing Threshold Even if you filled your grocery cart with $20/lb. cheeses, $8.99 organic gallons of milk, exotic truffles, etc., you’d be hard-pressed to spend $1,000 at Whole Foods (at least in a single visit). So, it was surprising to learn that, at least for credit card purchases < $1,000, Whole Foods no...Read More
“Everyday Savings,” Indeed You could be excused for thinking, at least momentarily, that “Whole Foods + Amazon” had aggressively cut prices on salmon. After all, Jeff Bezos (“your margin is my profit”) had already slashed prices on ground beef, fresh turkey, avocadoes, and a few other loss (?) leaders. Math Machinations Alas, it was not to...Read More
Two-Tiered Pricing, or, “The ‘Annual Membership’ Business Model” To the long list of consumer goods offered at a discount to Amazon Prime members, add one more: Thanksgiving turkey at newly-acquired Whole Foods. Sound familiar? It should. Training shoppers to pay an annuity-like annual (membership) fee is the business model of competitor Costco. See also, “Conversion...Read More
Share Price Heaven [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.] Before I got religion on Amazon, you could say I was an “Amazon atheist” (or at least, an “Amazon...Read More
Reviving “The Milkman Model” for the Grocery Business “Costco is the latest retailer to see dips in its stock on the news that Amazon’s buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion.” –Fortune.com [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other...Read More
