Whole Foods Market By Jesse Carter

Background Information Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas 1984: expansion out of Austin began Opened new stores from the ground up Throughout the 90s, acquired other natural food chains Global expansion starting in 21 st century Currently has 39,000 employees and 193 stores

First Whole Foods Market Image from

Philosophy Motto: Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet Declaration of Interdependence created originally in 1985 Core values, quality standards, and future plans are extensive lists

Some Questions How many of you have shopped at Whole Foods before? How many of you shop there regularly? Why?

Whole Foods and The Long Tail Each store designed uniquely for its locale Natural/organic food market is its own niche Ability of customers to spend time in store doing things other than shopping Major brands and the niche market Whole Foods is still a supermarket

Whole Foods and The Long Tail Early this year, Whole Foods Inc. increased the salary cap for executives In an open letter, founder John Mackey called the cap necessary to maintain executive talent Defended the move by reminding everyone that 93% of the companys stock options are distributed to non-executive employees Question: Can companies in niche markets stay profitable and maintain their core philosophies at the same time?

Whole Foods and Democratizing Innovation Offered $10 million in low-interest loans to small farmers who grow their crops organically Allow each stores locale to determine its specific attributes Democratization of payCEO (Mackey) is no longer paid for his services –Do you think he is a lead user doing his work for the pure enjoyment of it?

Whole Foods and Democratizing Innovation Pay structure is still very hierarchical Grocery store model can be limiting in terms of innovation

Whole Foods and The Wealth of Networks Space provided for the common community of shoppers to get together Whole Foods website –John Mackeys blog, where users can read and comment m/ m/ –Podcasts s/ s/

Laws of Simplicity (Fitting) Reduceonly organic products Organizelayout groups certain items together Timemake waits more tolerable with free sample Differencessimple philosophy with complicated partsprovides balance Emotionspeoples strong feelings about healthy foods and healthy environmental practices met Trustconsumers trust grocery store model generally and Whole Foods specifically

Laws of Simplicity (Not Fitting) Reduceoffers huge range of organic food products, natural body supplements, skincare products, etc. Organizeeach store is unique to its locale, thus each store is organized differently Timenot designed to get you in and out quickly