I’ll admit it. I love Whole Foods. I will also admit that I’m a total brand/packaging whore. Part of the appeal of Whole Foods is their image. I know I can get a lot of the same products at another grocery store a little cheaper, but I like the entire experience of shopping at Whole Foods. It’s not entirely superficial. I really do trust and prefer their produce, meat, and seafood sections because I truly do think they have a superior product. You can only imagine my delight when WF recently opened their Harlem location a mere 12 blocks from my house.
As an Amazon Prime member (full disclosure…I’m a total Amazon whore too) I was excited at the thought of what Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods could bring about. Today we saw the start of that partnership. On the same day the sale was finalized, Amazon’s integration into the Whole Foods operation was already underway. I have to say…I’m impressed. They’ve lowered prices on a handful of staples on day one (Avocado prices slashed in half!) and have stated they are going to work on more aggressively pricing the rest of the store going forward. Amazon Prime will eventually become the Whole Foods rewards/discount program and suddenly the “Whole Paycheck” nickname may well have to be adjusted to something different.
They also took the opportunity to put up sales displays of their Amazon Echo products, which look a bit tacky. Maybe they just need a little time to make it look “on brand” for the Whole Foods aesthetic, but they’ll get there.
Pretty packaging and beautiful architecture aside, I do think that Whole Foods provides really quality products and while the globalization of corporate entities can be scary, If Amazon’s purchase brings healthy, quality food to more people…let’s give it a shot.
