Bezos deserves my nickname for him “The Dr. Evil of our time”
It’s pretty easy for Whole Foods competitors to eat into their market. All they have to do is sell stuff at 1/2 of Whole Foods price and they will still make a nice profit.
Does this mean that Amazon sales will now require sales tax in any state with a Whole Foods?
I hope everyone reads the whole article and some can come up with ideas of how this will truly affect our nation. I have to go get my car inspected. I’ll be back. :)
Governments need to step up and hammer Amazon with TAXES.
Amazon is killing retail thereby killing communities’ tax base. Amazon isn’t paying property taxes in those communities. They’re killing jobs and the taxes those people pay. Amazon is killing retail and doing great harm to communities.
Bezoes bought the Washington Post to influence tax policy and his liberal views. Hammer him on taxes.
“Corporations grow on every hand, and on every hand not only swallow and overawe individuals but also compete with governments.The contest is no longer between government and individuals; it is now between government and dangerous combinations and individuals. Here is a monstrously changed aspect of the social world. In face of such circumstances, must not government lay aside all timid scruple and boldly make itself an agency for social reform as well as for political control? ‘Yes,’ says the democrat, ‘perhaps it must.’” …Two-pronged attack on US commerce—via government and within the business apparatus itself.
— Woodrow Wilson, 1887
Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
— 37th goal of 45 goals of communists for the USA, per The Naked Communist, 1958
It’s all for them and then they tell us that it’s good for us. A-holes.
He can screw up, when he does it will be of a grand scale....
Whole Foods was on the verge of bankruptcy, bad model and inefficient scale for the nationwide grocery industry.
Distributing food is way different than hard goods.....Kroger and Walmart (and others) are tough competitors with a tremendous amount of experience.
The food industry needed a kick to move innovation....That's the benefit I see now from Amazon....Whether Bezo’s can turn this into a win remains to be seen and carve out a niche remains to be seen....
So true. They were men of their times and without them, we would not live nearly as well as we do, not just here in America but globally. I doubt there is one person in the world who has not benefitted from Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt et al.
One of them, I think Carnegie, used to loan money to the US Government.
I’ve never even glanced at a Whole foods store let alone shopped there. Never read a paper copy of the Washington Post and while I use Amazon, I’d also live perfectly fine without it.
This is one of the most important pieces posted here in a long time. I think the author is exactly right. I hope people will see that he is talking about more than the price of groceries.
I went to a Whole Foods one time. Didn’t like it at all. Overpriced, off-brand products in a cramped store with narrow aisles.
Here in Cincy, we are rooting for Kroger. That said, I wouldn’t bet against Kroger...this isn’t a winner take all scenario...
Whole Foods sold out, laughing all the way to the bank
He has done this by convincing investors that despite scant profits, the ample rewards of monopoly await.
This is where the flaw of these "information age" titans is exposed. They have plenty of great ideas and bring plenty of innovation to the marketplace, but the very nature of the industry makes it almost impossible to make any money. As one astute Wall Street investor once said, "I never like to invest in something that can be replicated in three days by a bunch of guys working in a garage somewhere."
If anything, Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods should raise a red flag for investors -- for the following reasons:
1. Amazon has been built as a "virtual retailer" with no storefronts, and yet it made a move like this to buy a "brick & mortar" company that operates very differently than the company's existing business model.
2. The company exists as a mass-market retailer with market penetration all over the globe, but it decided to acquire a high-end grocery chain with limited appeal to most consumers.
This move almost reeks of desperation on the part of Amazon -- or at least a real stretch.
The new “giants” are driven NOT by production at all but by technology, finance and gathering data on you.
Wow, class warfare hyperbole much? Meanwhile Whole Foods is a pretty minor player in the grocery business and this is not going to lead to massive layoffs in the industry. The articles own numbers prove it, it’s an $800 billion industry and this is a $14 billion buy.
the overnight selloff of kroger, et.al. after the announcement was a gross overreaction. Whole Foods has been in SERIOUS trouble due to over-expanding while facing BIG increases in healthy food competition from regional grocers like Sprouts and increased healthy alternatives added by Kroger, Safeway, and even Walmart. It remains to be seen if amazon is any good at turning around failing niche grocery store chains that cater to rich people.
In NYC, and much of the surrounding area, FreshDirect has the lion’s share of the grocery delivery business. Their delivery trucks line up for MANY city blocks, each morning.
I see this WF purchase as a way for Bezos to (attempt to) dominate THAT market, as well. He started with AmazonFresh and will now perhaps attempt to incorporate the ‘whole food’ reputation of WF, into his grocery delivery program.
The FreshDirect delivery people are friendly and professional looking, AFAI have seen. AmazonFresh....not so much :(
Obviously I am nowhere near as smart as Bezos, but I just don’t get what exactly he’s going to do with Whole Foods or how it will grow Amazon’s business. Is he going to undercut Costco, Kroger, Walmart? Is he going to use drones to deliver groceries?
Or could it be that this is a dumb move on his part - like going into the cell phone business?