Whole Foods Market Is The Largest Retailer Of Natural And Organic Foods

Whole Foods Market’s first retail location was in Austin, Texas. Today there are 342 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The growth of this health conscious conglomerate happened over the years by strategic acquisitions of profitable independent stores throughout United States. Mackey’s idealism and respect is exhibited in his openness about the contributions of these retailers to the success of WFM, as the website provides an in depth summary of each acquisition and its contribution to promoting healthier food choices (Whole Foods Market History, 2014). After four years in Austin, Texas WFM branched out into the city of Houston when it purchased the Whole Foods Company, and shortly after, on the west coast, a new store was built in Palo Alto, California. Subsequently WFM began aggressive acquisitions over the next few years, which help to accelerate the growth rate of WFM in other geographical locations. In 2002 WFM opened in Canada and in 2004 through the acquisition of United Kingdom’s grocery chain Fresh & Wild, it opened seven stores. Holistic eating is a worldwide affair that WFM is taking advantage

A weakness that Whole Foods have is their reputation. A reputation for a grocer is key to its survival and they have the reputation of being very expensive or some call it “whole paycheck.”

Whole Foods was established in 1980 with one store in Austin, Texas. Today, Whole Foods is the world’s largest leader in natural and organic foods. There are over 310 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods is committed to the finest natural and organic foods available, sustainable agriculture and have one of the strictest of quality standards. Whole Foods offers customers a wide variety of products. “Natural” refers to food that is free of growth hormones or antibiotics, where “certificated

Whole Foods, just like any other retailer right now, has been struggling with the economy. The external environment has been changing in uphill and downhill motions daily, something that Whole Foods has never experienced before. Not only is there pressure on the financials of the corporation, but also there is the pressure to go green.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) lives through their motto of “Whole Food, Whole People, Whole Planet.” WFM opened their first store in Austin, Texas with 19 employees in 1980. Today, WFM has 311 stores in the US, Canada and the UK, and employs more than 72,700 employees. Whole Foods Market is one of the largest natural and organic food retailers in North America. WFM has grown to its size today mostly through mergers and acquisitions of such brands as Bread and Circus and Natures Heartland. In 2011 and 2012 Whole Foods Market was added to the Fortune 100 “Best Places to Work” list. Fortune Magazine (2012)

* Whole Foods Market was founded in 1980 working with natural and healthy foods in Austin, Texas; it’s one of the world’s largest of natural and organic foods supermarkets. In 2009, the sales total $8 billion and had 289 stores in the U.S. The Whole Foods Market plans to come up with strategies to help improve the company but to do so understanding the core values plays a major role in the company’s planning. The strategies

They have a good vision of where they want to go and a mission statement that will take them there. Whole Foods will probably have a difficult time over the next few years, but they have shown as a company that they can persevere through about anything. Revenue growth can be spurred through a marketing campaign and community outreach. Costs can be controlled through reductions in direct labor, using buyer power to push down cost of goods sold, and reducing capital cost growth. Net income may not grow as much as Whole Foods might like, but the company can easily still remain profitable and continue to grow. Through all of the ups and downs that Whole Foods has experienced, at the end of the day you have to recognize that they are a great up and coming company and a force to be reckoned with in the food retail industry. With the growing popularity and demand for organic and natural products, we feel that Whole Foods would be a great company to invest in. They have a very effective strategy and are always looking for ways to improve their standings for consumers and investors. While financial standings aren’t the primary goal of the organization, they do realize the importance of creating economic value for the shareholders and that is essential to have a successful operation. Whole Foods also has one of the highest employee retention numbers out

Whole Foods Market, Inc. was founded and created by four business people in Austin, TX during 1980. The founders opened Whole Foods Market because they wanted a supermarket that offered natural foods. This company was able to be successful because at the time they opened there were less than half a dozen natural food supermarkets in the United Sates. In 1984, they build stores in Houston and Dallas, they then moved to New Orleans, and eventually to the West Coast. A major part of Whole Foods growth has come from the many mergers and acquisitions with companies that have occurred throughout the years. The mergers and acquisitions gave Whole Foods’ even revenues to move to the East Coast.

As discussed above with the SWOT Analysis of the company, Whole Foods certainly is a very financially sound and a major player in the organic food industry, however, it is important for Whole Foods, to continue striving upon increasing/ bettering the customer experience at all of its stores. Whole Foods, has a strong customer base,

* In 1996 Whole Foods Markets acquires Fresh Field Markets picking up 22 stores located on the east coast and Chicago area for 4.8 million shares of common stock and an option for 549,000 additional shares. (Thompson, 2010; C-13)

Whole Foods has employees who are dedicated to being the absolute best they can be for the company. And in turn the company invests in their employees. The employees treat

This makes it easier on customers working full time and families to obtain healthy goods without having to waste their precious time. While Whole Foods has numerous ways of getting products to their customers, how do they obtain these superior quality products themselves? One main question consumers have about Whole Foods is how they get these products in a world where GMO crops are taking over? Well the short answer is that Whole Foods has a long list of trustworthy and reliable

Whole Food Market is one of the most successful organic food grocery chains. Health consciousness among the Americans is increasing day by day, with that Whole Foods supplies organic foods which satisfies their demand and makes it a successful brand (WholeFoodsMarket, 2014). The fiscal year 2013 was the best year for the company as the sales of the company touched 13 billion dollars. Expansion in 10 new markets with 32 new stores shows how the company has been successful. (Wholefoodsmarket, 2013)

Currently, WMF is facing a problem with perception and reputation. They are perceived as a high-end grocery store that takes your “Whole Paycheck.”(Newsmax) Recently, Whole Foods Market has been investigated for routinely overstating

Whole Foods Market began in 1970 as a local supermarket. Over the past 31 years, Whole Foods Market has grown from a single store in Austin, Texas, to becoming one of the worldwide leaders in providing consumers with natural and organic foods. They have grown to over 300 stores in both North America and the United Kingdom. (Whole Foods Market, Inc., 2011) This report examines the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market has put into place. Also, it uses past financial data to provide an assessment of the condition of the company going forward. Those assessments include recommendations of future actions, along with concerns I have about the way the company is currently operating and some difficulties that may be on the way.