Interesting opinion piece in today's paper:
http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_16589178

Kroger profits .6% Whole Foods 4.6%

It seems as though grocery stores are mimicking the growing split between rich and poor in this country. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/opinion/07kristof.html?_r=2&src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB) From my observations in shopping at Albertson's, King Sooper's and Whole Foods (I buy fresh bread there) in my neighborhood, the large chain grocery stores no longer attract middle class customers. Whole Foods attracts the rich or want-to-be-rich and the other stores cater to the growing lower class.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Definitely the situation.

Whole Foods here in NY is successful beyond anyone's imagination. There are about 16 cashiers and the waiting line to checkout is still 20 minutes.

The supermarkets are downmarket and offer prepackaged goods to the masses that are generally unhealthy. Most Americans are fine with such products.

However, Whole Foods caters to people with some intelligence about what they put into their cake hole and such people generally have more money to spend.............and don't worry about an extra dollar or two.

I'm sure the gross margins at Whole Foods are significantly higher than the remainder of the industry. However, the company will never come even close to the size of a Kroger due to the limited number of people with that kind of money to spend.

It's a good business model although their size is limited, by definition.

In general, the cost of food is growing pretty fast.

But commodity beef is heading for a real train wreck. Commodity beef is now high enough that it is close to matching natural, grass-fed in price. So, lots of beef producers are jumping into the fray while the money is good. With the price climbing, people will start reducing their beef intake and look for other sources of economical protein...pork, chicken, and Gawd forbid, soy. At which point, commodity beef production will peak out and end in a glut of excess production.

In some ways, right now this is good for us because our cost of production hasn't changed any and the people that can still afford beef no longer see ours as being priced too high. But, when the crash happens, there will be .89/lb hamburger all over the place when millions of slaughter cows hit the market at what amounts to fire sale prices.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

The new Whole Foods in Venice (Los Angeles) looks like a cathedral for the new food religion...absolute appalling.

Some of their products are up to 50% more expensive than from other stores.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Hadn't thought about the religious component. No doubt about that. I have been reading the Laws of Manu recently, I should have readily seen the connection.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I usually only go there to buy cut flowers for my wife - they seem to last longer. They have a few nicer things than the standard Safeway or Giant - bigger variety of seafood and meats - but I would never make a habit of it.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I love Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

I rather pay a few extra bucks for locally grown natural food. You are what you eat. Also the meat section is fantastic, grass feed free range beef tastes a lot better.

Local farmers markets are still the best, we have a rather good one in my city.


Being cheap is all great but food is one thing that's worth investing in, I rather save the money elsewhere like less expensive clothing or cheaper oil in my truck.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Central Market is owned by HEB and compete with WFM here and while it does not exactly have the same green crystal toutin granola munchin customer --it does have the same setup stores -- also the best frozen pizza's avalable in a store.

I can remember when Whole Foods first started in Austin, Texas. It was a real laid back and funky kind of place.

Then Safeway pulled out of Texas and left a lot of big spaces empty that they sold cheap. I know they sold cheap because I know someone who bought one.

When Whole Foods bought an old Safeway on Greenville Ave. in Dallas the place began to change for the better. Far more professional. It was also a great place to see some very odd people, like the lady that always shopped in her string bikini.

But Whole Foods can charge more since they are almost in a class by themselves. Central Market is a good example of what Whole Foods used to be as far as shopping goes.

I like to shop at HEB myself. If you ever get down to Texas you should check one out. The Fiesta Mart is also interesting, but I don't really like the one in Austin.

My brother used to work at the Greenville ave store. lots of old hippies in tie die'd t shirts and plenty of wierd customers, he told me about one old lady with the aluminum foil clothes/hat, he took her groceries out to her car and the entire inside was upholstered in renolds wrap!

panzzer...

There may be those on here that read that and think you are making this up. I am not one of them.

I am not sure if the area is still like that since a lot of the homes in the area now sell for so much (I am thinking of the 'M' street area here) but at one time it was the part of town for the, well, odder types.

1990 'ish -But they Still prolly have all scents of incense sticks right next to the bulk foods bins. coos coos anyone?

whole foods is also virulently anti-union and anti-worker. and their owner spoke quite vehemently against universal healthcare and employer-sponsored healthcare. i shop there occasionally, but certainly don't think highly of the place. and, yes, in l.a. they are part of a conspicuous consumption / utopian food dream sub-culture.

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

I'm going to wait another couple of years before going in...

By then, some half-baked conspiracy-minded media outlet will wire some intern up with about a half-dozen cameras and mics and "go behind the scenes" to find WF-employees yelling at the flowers and calling them bad names and to "straighten up" or else and then there will be the expose of the meat handlers pushing steriods onto little bulls and having them stand still so they mature faster than their "veal" cousins...and the whole industry will crash...again due to the industrial complex pushing profit over healthy...

I can't wait!!!

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Ask again if that's really the case. They're not exactly forthcoming about their beef sources.

I like to shop at places like http://caputomarkets.com/ Always 10+ people working the deli counter and people lined up four deep.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman