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Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

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Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#591

Post by alphonsegaston »

jhall1468 wrote: post #565
alphonsegaston wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I seem to "have an agenda" based on widespread media reports that are far beyond that one NY Times piece, how exactly would you categorize your own stance? What's your relationship to Amazon? I'm only one of their occasional customers. Anyway, here's reporting about how their warehouses used Neo-Nazis to intimidate immigrant laborers and worked a temp to death. If you have evidence of the drastic measures that wou…

The first article is about a temp worker dying. One guy. The second article is about Amazon Germany, specifically that the security company they hired, allegedly hired neo-nazis. You don't seem to have an agenda, you absolutely have one. What happened to that temp is tragic, but you can't get more isolated than 1. > Anyway, here's reporting about how their warehouses used Neo-Nazis You mean the company they hired tha…

Different people have different thresholds for what's "water under the bridge." That's fine. I've been a long time occasional customer of there's, but have become increasingly leery of their business and employment practices, both from media reports and people I know who've worked with them. I wouldn't want to be treated that way or see anyone I know treated that way either. That's what informs my views and comments. If you see it as an agenda, that's okay too.

But I only used the term "seem" because your framing is to position yourself as somehow more impartial and knowledgeable, while refusing to clarify your own relationship with Amazon and what informs your (in my view) similar stridency.

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#592

Post by harrisreynolds »

samstave wrote: post #532
harrisreynolds wrote: post #334

HUGE news in the grocery delivery space. Groceries are one of the few large markets that require some proximity to customers due to costs and spoilage. Each grocery store is a type of mini-distribution center for grocery products. Shipt and Instacart have succeeded to date because they use existing distribution channels and set up marketplaces for the "last-mile" of delivery. This is in contrast to Webvan in the earl…

I'm just sad that true disruption isn't happening in the grocery/food sectors; buying WF, or throwing tech at food isn't a solution that will reduce food costs or feed more people... I'd rather see someone create a business that makes it so that anyone on minimum wage can support and healthily feed a family.

I hear you. And agree. But that is a different problem.

To eat healthy on a very low wage you need to live enough out of the city to be able plant a garden and grow your own vegetables. OR shop at a place like Aldi but make sure to buy fresh food instead of the packaged crap.

But Whole Paycheck is a different market.

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#593

Post by pc86 »

tracker1 wrote: post #561
throwaway40483 wrote: post #551

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To this day, I'm still puzzled by the fact that the wage fixing incident didn't blow up in the press. Amazing..

"Some massively rich companies colluded to keep their 5%-er employees from making even more..." Not that I disagree that it was a huge deal, it's hard to gather greater sympathy/empathy from people that tend to make less than half of those aggrieved.

Exactly. If you're making $35k a year, all that story meant to you was "a bunch of billionaires colluded so someone making 5x what I make couldn't make 5.5x what I make."

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#594

Post by amelius »

lwlml wrote: post #153

Amazon is now (or more so now) like Evil Corp in the Mr. Robot kind of way. You can ship your Evil groceries via Evil Prime purchased via voice-command with your Evil assistant device paid for with your Evil credit-card. Evil. Frankly I don't buy as much from WF anymore considering that what they carry is much more like "organic junk-food" than actual food. If you really want to support the "cause", find yourself a l…

Business is just too easy when you're big.

I think we need something like progressive economic barriers. Right now this seems inverted, with all the barriers at the "entry" level.

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#595

Post by davidu »

deelowe wrote: post #293
StevePerkins wrote: post #22

Wow... all the articles I've been reading about Whole Foods lately deal with how they're hurting, and losing market share to more affordable competitors like Trader Joe's. If this is about Amazon thinking they can turn things around for Whole Foods, then it will certainly mean drastic changes to price, selection, and employee structure. If this is about Amazon using a brick-and-mortar chain as a tool to help Amazon's…

I think this is more about amazon easily acquiring a ton of retail space for it's JIT order deliver business. I'm starting to think they're actually serious about this drone delivery stuff.

If this was the strategy, it would not require the complexity of an acquisition and a price tag of $13b.

-David

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#596

Post by landryraccoon »

andreyf wrote: post #527
jhall1468 wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work 40 hours a week. Sometimes I work 45, and I usually offset it by cutting it shorter the next week. I have no need (or desire) to "strike" just because some businesses/orgs/teams are garbage.

No competent programmer I know has to work 40 hours a week to have their needs met. The best ones charge rates would allow them to have their needs met working <10 hours a week.

If I can work 10 hours to have my needs met, I'd rather work 40 hours so I can travel 4 times more and have 4 times more cool stuff.

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#597

Post by [deleted] »

andreyf wrote: post #527
jhall1468 wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work 40 hours a week. Sometimes I work 45, and I usually offset it by cutting it shorter the next week. I have no need (or desire) to "strike" just because some businesses/orgs/teams are garbage.

No competent programmer I know has to work 40 hours a week to have their needs met. The best ones charge rates would allow them to have their needs met working <10 hours a week.

[deleted]

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#598

Post by Steve44 »

naravara wrote: post #575
Steve44 wrote: post #548

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they have higher costs too. In the UK their sites are in High Street locations unlike most other grocery stores. They also have a lot more front of house staff and have very high quality standards for their products and displays. That all costs and eats away at the raw cost-of-goods margin.

And it's not just an idiosyncrasy to maintain that stuff either. If they don't maintain the perception of being a premium brand/neighborhood anchor people will stop shopping there. Whole Foods gets higher margins because their customer base cares more about various intangibles beyond just the value-for-money. Take those intangibles away and suddenly you're competing on value-for-money alone and Walmart will eat your…

> cares more about various intangibles beyond just the value-for-money

Very much, like many premium businesses part of what they are is to ensure everything will be lovely, easy, and just happen. That is the added value. Take that away and you're competing against ASDA etc. Premium brands need to keep that, it is a very valid market but must be looked after.

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#599

Post by hockeybias »

_7siz wrote: post #10

Oof. I wonder what this means for Whole Foods culture and employees. If you don't know, John Mackey, the CEO / founder, is a major believer in conscious capitalism and of empowering his employees. Whole Food employees get paid pretty darn well with some crazy good benefits for their industry and line-of-work (UNION FREE most of the time too!). WF banks on them being true believers and motivators of the cause - includ…

...And it wasn't working.

Re: Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods for $13.7B

#600

Post by anth1988 »

throwaway40483 wrote: post #551
uxp100 wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was hired I became the best paid person I knew. I think it would be pretty hard to unionize, but damn if I ain't pissed that that wage fixing scandal wasn't a bigger deal. I work at one of the guilty companies, and I would be happier if I felt like most workers even knew it happened. (even though this was not wage fixing for the average engineer, but for certain high profile roles.) That's something a worker's…

To this day, I'm still puzzled by the fact that the wage fixing incident didn't blow up in the press. Amazing..

Meh, good PR departments.

I'm amazed that people still shit on unions constantly and think "I can get a better deal on my own". You would think illegal wage fixing would have woken people up a bit to the fact that companies are not out to give you a deal.

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