I Have No Idea What This Means But Holy Canoli!! Amazon Buying Whole Foods

by Prince Of Petworth June 16, 2017 at 9:25 am 46 Comments

I guess it means – hello drone delivered groceries!!!

From CNBC:

“Amazon said Friday it plans to acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 a share, in a deal valued at $13.7 billion.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey will remain CEO of the grocery store chain after the deal closes, and the store will continue to operate under the Whole Foods brands.”

Nathan

Had know activist investors were pushing for a sale. I was worried that they might get picked up by another grocer and put a stop to some expansion, including selfishly the the Shaw location. Seems though with Amazon as an owner, and their push into grocery this is pretty good news.
- asdf
  
  why are you opposed to shaw location?
  - Nathan
    
    Sorry if I wasn’t clear, I was worried that they’d get purchased by some other grocery chain who would put a halt to their expansion. And the Shaw location wouldn’t open….
    - Nathan
      
      As they’ve already been closing some stores….
  - textdoc
    
    I think (?) Nathan was saying that he lives near the proposed Shaw location, so he has a selfish reason for wanting it to open.
    .
    (I had to read it twice — the placement of “selfishly” makes it appear to modify “put a stop,” but I think Nathan meant it to modify “I was worried.”)
    - Nathan
      
      yes.
16thSter

Not good news for InstaCart. But as a Prime member I am happy about it.
- WanderingWahoo
  
  Interestingly, InstaCart was founded by a former Amazon employee.
northeazy

WF is famously Conservative. Bezos is a Leftist. Since Bezos took over WaPo they have gone full #resistance. Amazon also just rolled out reduced Prime memberships for EBC recipients. I imagine the formula of success for WF could potentially change dramatically. For now, Trump supporting CEO Mackey has been kept on. I presume to calm investors and speculators. He won’t last. I hate how everything is political. Even the grocery store.
- dcd
  
  “I have how everything is political (s/he said in her paragraph devoted entirely to politics, instead of store expansion, quality of good, increased services, or any of the myriad other issues that could have been discussed).”
  .
  There really aren’t enough eye rolls for this.
  - Formerly ParkViewRes
    
    LOL, you took the words right out of my mouth.
  - binntp
    
    +1. I, for one, am looking forward to possible drone delivery of my fresh veggies!
    - MadMax
      
      Not if you live in DC.
    - erahk0
      
      I’m looking forward to drone delivery of eggs!
  - B
    
    OMG! My thought exactly.
  - Truxton Thomas
    
    +1
  - stacksp
    
    +1
    
    I didnt know any of that political stuff that posted above but I have been a whole foods shopper for years lol
    
    I just like the place and I like Amazon.
  - northeazy
    
    Right. Because Bezos isn’t a radical committed Leftist that took a backwater like the comPost and made it the vanguard of anti-Trump resistance so much so even the NY Slimes refers to their anonymous sources on Trump hit pieces. I expect Bezos to socially engineer WF the same way he did to the comPost. And also, can we expect to WF to longer be profitable? Considering the Post runs at a loss every year and Amazon just barely made a profit for the first time ever last year, I do not see good things in WF’s future.
    - Julia Vipsania
      
      Never mind that the use of “comPost” and “NY Slimes” should have been enough for me to ignore this, but do you realize Whole Foods is in dire financial straits and the Washington Post just reported one of its most successful periods ever?
    - dcd
      
      That wooshing sound? That’s the point going over your head.
      - textdoc
        
        Actual LOL.
      - ajr
        
        Ditto on the actual LOL – thank you for this.
    - textdoc
      
      You’re calling the Washington Post a “backwater”? You might not agree with its politics, but the Washington Post has usually been regarded as the second most important newspaper in the country (behind the New York Times). It’s not like Bezos suddenly elevated (say) the Raleigh News and Observer.
      .
      And if anything changed under Bezos, it wasn’t the Post’s politics, but rather the proportion of clickbait/puff pieces to real news. Maybe the clickbait is finally helping to fund the real journalism, like David Fahrenthold’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work.
      - Anonymous
        
        “has usually been regarded as the second most important newspaper in the country”
        .
        Has been, historically speaking, yes. But that’s a relative statement, and newspapers are arguably far less less important now than they were even just ten years ago. I’m not sure I’d agree with “backwater” but the Washington Post is a shadow of its former self.
      - dcd
        
        Fake news! Everyone knows Trump donated yooge amounts to charity. The yooogest. He has the best charities.
      - textdoc
        
        Anonymous, generally I agree about the Post being a shadow of its former self… but some of its recent reporting is giving me hope.
      - AubreyO
        
        Didn’t Bezos hire a lot of new reporters, including something like 40 new investigative reporters? I think he is absolutely trying to restore the Wash Post fully to its former glory.
    - MadMax
      
      What you call “hit piece” I call “documenting actual things that someone actually said”.
    - Anon5
      
      “And also, can we expect to WF to longer be profitable?”
      
      Whole Foods has not been profitable for the last six quarters, which is why they were sold.
    - idontgetit
      
      You must be fun at parties.
    - B
      
      Wait, um, weren’t you the one that wrote above “I hate how everything is political”, and now this ridiculous political post? Honestly, when I see a comment from northeazy, it always seems to be simply here to troll folks with whatever inflammatory comment northeazy can come up with.
- SultanofShaw
  
  Everything isn’t political. The article didn’t mention politics at all. “Amazon has long been pushing to expand its online grocery business”. That, combined with investors wanting WF to sell seems like a logical business decision.
  
  It’s only political if you make it so.
Ben

Actually, if I could get 2 hour delivery of some of their seafood that would be awesome…
- Anon
  
  I wouldn’t trust it if they delivered it the same way Prime Now delivered ice cream to me.
Kevin

IT’S LIT!!! Watch out Wal-Mart..
Truxton Thomas

It’s a jerk move for Whole Foods shareholders that Amazon didn’t pay more.
- dcd
  
  Nicely done.
anonymouse_dianne

The Guardian has a good write up on the history leading up to the purchase.
andy2

Fantastic news!
skaballet

In the email I just got from Whole Foods they describe it as a merger. I somehow doubt Amazon sees it that way…
Joshua

The most noticeable change is that they’ll now wrap that stupidly overpriced steak or piece of fish in the Washington Post.
- Nathan
  
  Is it really overpriced though? Today they had some solid looking boneless ribeyes on sale for $11.99/lb. They’ve got excellent prime and dry-aged steaks for the price.
  - MadMax
    
    The fish is certainly not overpriced, considering the origins and quality. It’s one of the few places in the city I will actually buy raw fish and trust what I’m getting. (FishWife and Ivy City Smokehouse are other reliable sources)
    - Ben
      
      Not to mention their $1 oysters you can order at the bar. Yummmmm!!
- Elvis’s Mom
  
  If you receive a piece of fish wrapped in the Post, I’d advise exercising caution…#itmightbeamessagefrombezos
  - dcd
    
    #LucaBrasi

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