Doesn’t have quite the same ring as “Whole Paycheck” — that persistent joke name for Whole Foods you’ve been hearing thrown around for so many years. It’s been part of the web of jokes that caught Barack Obama in an elitist gaffe when he commented on the price of arugula at Whole Foods way back in those good old hopeful days of 2007.
Well, thanks to the colossal forces of Amazon, that is all about to change. Between when you go to sleep on Sunday night and wake up Monday morning, there will be a reduction in price on many food staples you and I have grown to love: bananas, eggs, apples, butter (specifically, the Whole Foods house brand “365 Everyday Value” butter, but still, butter). Plus the inclusive category of goods: “and more.”
While I am an Amazon Prime member, I don’t have a Whole Foods within a walking radius of my rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood yet (though there’s talk of one going in across the street by 2020), so this change doesn’t impact me personally. But for those of you who do frequent the high-end grocer more regularly, this is something to look forward to, maybe just a little bit. And why is this even happening? Why, free market competition, of course, and the chance to increase Jeff-and-the-Amazon-gang’s market domination.
It is not likely to alter the brand image of where you can buy the priciest cherries on the market, but it may draw in a new type of customer and create an uptick in grocery delivery to select neighborhoods.
I doubt these changes will have any impact on those who (like me) find it hard to resist occasional impulse trips to the Whole Foods salad/hot bar when I happen to be passing a WF on foot or by car. But there are hacks for that.
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