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Amazon-Whole Foods merger gets green light from U.S. government
- Thread starter LordOfLore
- Start date
I think people in the grocery business were hoping even though everyone knew it would go through.
Source: I work in the grocery business
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
Hopefully the venture tanks Amazon.
Razgriz-Specter
Member
I know Walmart was a bit worried about it as well.
Abstrusity
Member
We could've said that about Walmart.
Already having supply lines and, warehousing, contracts with suppliers...goes a very, very long way toward the general cost of upkeep of a grocery store chain.
If it were anything other than whole foods, I'd be a bit more worried for other grocery stores for a little while; the convenience without extra cost of ordering online and grabbing it all at the register would already be a game changer. I'd be a little worried for the stores that do that themselves to keep up with Amazon, as grocery stores are set up to put the things most people buy in opposite corners of the stores so you have to walk past as many things as possible...and when they don't do that, it tends to cost them in sales.
Similarly so, as much as the Amazon brand might be suffering because of exploitative employment and business practices, the average person won't care about that.
Due to its size, shipping, and supply strengths, it's entirely possible that they'll be able to be cheaper than other grocery stores can afford for most nonperishables while being marginally -- at worst -- more expensive for the perishables until their local contracts are set up.
Or, in short, they will turn into a grocery store monopoly because other stores cannot compete in any area.
But why.
cooljeanius
Member
Trump's been hating on Bezos/Amazon recently; he could've found some way to twist his personal gripes with them against them in this process.
TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
Why would you want it to tank?
Sure they have their problems, including the many anecdotes of how they treat their employees, but I'd rather that change for the better than the entire company tank. Also I'm sure you're going to be very disappointed when you realize that it's most likely going to go up instead of down.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1410738&highlight=
And as for why i want them to get burned by their Whole Foods purchase? Because if it works out swimmingly Whole Foods is just going to be the first of many.
Admiral Woofington
Member
With this and amazon beginning trials of their amazon fresh service for prime members, I expect them to have a decent share with the market soon enough.
I think the only thing holding me back from Amazon fresh is that i have a grocery store like 4 minutes away from my house.
If I lived further away from one, it'd be a no brainer.
I think the only thing holding me back from Amazon fresh is that i have a grocery store like 4 minutes away from my house.
If I lived further away from one, it'd be a no brainer.
Tal Shiar Agent
Banned
Seems like a good thing to me. Hastens the inevitable end of labor and the traditional idea of capitalism and business.
entremet
Member
I can't see this tanking Amazon. It will only make them stronger. It's a Win/Win for both.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
i know its a slim chance but here to hoping!
Admiral Woofington
Member
Considering their prices, it's not surprising they don't have the shares.
I love buying whole foods cooked foods as they have some of the best buffet style foods. But Jesus I remember paying like 30-40 bucks for two full boxes of their stuff.
If Amazon doesn't lower prices I don't see whole foods ever leaving the upper middle class and above market.
entremet
Member
Yeah. I like going there for hard to get gourmet style items, but it's always a shock when I get rung up lol.
Sakura
Member
Customers coming in for Amazon packages at my conbini is a pain in the ass.
Owned. Enjoy handing me my package and stamping my gas bill!
Master Yoshi
Member
RIP, grocery chain I work for.
sixteen-bit
Member
Whole Foods more like Whole Wallet amirite? I never really fucked with them cuz of how expensive they are.
Sakura
Member
Just stop opening your five huge packages right outside the store and trying to shove all the cardboard into the trashcans pls
The Albatross
Member
I'm pretty happy about this, as there's a Whole Foods about 6mi from my house opening up, but Amazon Pantry is not available to us, so it should make it more available.
WalMart is rumored to be teaming up with Google now to try to rollout home food delivery and assisted shopping, as a response to this.
WalMart is rumored to be teaming up with Google now to try to rollout home food delivery and assisted shopping, as a response to this.
Trickster
Member
At worst their stock will take a hit until people realize that Amazon is still gonna dominate
Krauser Kat
Member
I was more impressed by a family walking out of Whole Foods with 5 full grocery bags then Than care that has wings for doors. That shit is expensive. I only buy specialty stuff.
Bezos and Trump are at war. So it would not have been surprising if the FTC/DOJ nixed the deal.
KernelPanic
Member
I actually thought Humpty Trumpty would block this given his dislike of WaPo and Jeff Bezos.
Well this could mean Amazon could pilot something nationally I've read they've been testing at certain Amazon stores they opened.
Amazon has been testing out keeping track of Amazon customers who walk into the store, they recognize individual customers through facial recognition and the cart has the ability to keep track of what you put in and take out of the cart and after you are finished shopping, you just walk out of the store and all the items you purchased in the store are then added to your Amazon account and your associated default payment method is automatically charged the exact amount of the items you put into the cart.
Amazon has been testing out keeping track of Amazon customers who walk into the store, they recognize individual customers through facial recognition and the cart has the ability to keep track of what you put in and take out of the cart and after you are finished shopping, you just walk out of the store and all the items you purchased in the store are then added to your Amazon account and your associated default payment method is automatically charged the exact amount of the items you put into the cart.
Hahahahahahahaha!
The Albatross
Member
Thankfully the president does not have the power to block things like this.
I would think for the purposes of trying to establish a grocery delivery market, being exclusively upper middle class is kind of the point. Grocery delivery only works for customers who are willing to pay for the convenience of delivery, and who, when dealing with things like fresh produce, are willing to pay for the company to ensure a consistently high level of quality, versus going to a cheaper store where not every piece of fruit on the shelves is at ideal ripeness, and you have to put your own effort into finding the best ones. That's a pretty exclusively upper middle class market. I'm not sure I can really envision fresh food delivery becoming a service for budget buyers any time soon, at least not until Amazon has done this initial, more high-end run and found every efficiency to squeeze out of it that they can.
Wow!!!! I thought the typical Whole Foods shopper is typically more well educated than the average shopper at a supermarket. Every news report I heard about the Amazon-Whole Foods deal said "proposed" which meant to me it hasn't gone through yet. All the news reports I heard said the merger won't occur until later in 2017 depending on regulatory and shareholder approval.
From the AP, Whole Foods CEO thinks Amazon can change Whole Foods from being a "dunce" to a "valedictorian" and that "it was truly love at first sight": https://apnews.com/8d787812176b4243...-Whole-Foods-shareholders-approve-Amazon-deal
TheSecondSpitter
Member
This won't end well for consumers in the long-run.
Interesting way to refer to the company you run.
yea I don't get it... in what way did the CEO think his company was a dunce?
anyways they just announced some foods will almost immediately be cheaper.
"Amazon says shoppers can expect lower prices at Whole Foods stores starting that same day on best-selling grocery staples such as organic eggs, bananas, butter, salmon, ground beef, and avocados."
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/24/...whole-foods-acquisition-lower-prices-avocados
anyways they just announced some foods will almost immediately be cheaper.
"Amazon says shoppers can expect lower prices at Whole Foods stores starting that same day on best-selling grocery staples such as organic eggs, bananas, butter, salmon, ground beef, and avocados."
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/24/...whole-foods-acquisition-lower-prices-avocados
Just released by the AP, Amazon to close the deal as soon as Monday!!!! Shares for other publicly traded grocers are dropping: https://apnews.com/dab6e3436a7845bf82cab3aa8cdb115c/Amazon-to-close-on-Whole-Foods-buyout-Monday
One Eyed Willy
Member
I love Amazon, I love WF... bring it on.
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
I have gone to WF recently and felt like some things were priced well, but others like meats and veggies were sky high. They also carried extremely high end brands of things like salad dressing and sauces. Seems like the prices are going to come down. This amazon prime discount thing seems really interesting.