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The point is all of the die hard WF shoppers have refused to admit
they could possibly ever be overcharged, lol
Big difference.
I was in Aldi about a year ago, ran into get something minor,
but as I rushed through the aisle I came across a product that I just saw at WF; identical brand/product.
The price was jacked up by WF 3 times what Aldi was charging
As much as I am not awed by organic, free range or whatever, I am not sure WF is much different than other stores. Here is just one example: I have a favorite cous cous I love. It can be found at Aldi's for $.69 a box; our small local grocery store for $2.59 and Fresh Market $2.79. I am a pretty frugal shopper (the only thing I am frugal about) but if people want to continue to buy from WFoods, etc. it is their choice and I am sure they know many of the products they buy are over priced. Maybe it is easier for them to just do most of their shopping at one store, knowing some of it is priced higher than the near by super market. I bet we have all paid too much, more than once for something.
ThunderKat: what does the guys political views have to do with this? I didn't know this was the political board: I really don't even know what his views are. I can't imagine knowing what the political views are of the CEOs of everyplace I shop!!
Some of their items are actually cheaper than regular grocery store items. Such as eggs, real butter, blue corn chips, etc. These of course are the 365 brand items and I generally only purchase the items that are cheaper there than anywhere else, which isn't much.
They do overprice for a lot of stuff, practically almost everything. Costco has a decent selection of bulk organic items that are a fraction of the price.
I don't shop there and never will for many reasons, but I am sure you are right. We go to Fresh Market a couple times a year, when near by and I love to just wander around. I too, have found items that are anything but overpriced, there bread for starters and their olive bar for another.
I was a loyal WF shopper from before they even WERE Whole Foods. Back then, they were an affordable source for things that couldn't be purchased elsewhere (no internet in those days - no, really) and things that could. Their biggest claim to fame was that they were absolutely responsive to their customers - had a bulletin board and paper on which you could write a request, a complaint, a kudo for something done especially well, and get a response, either posted on the board where you could read it when you were shopping, or that AND a phone call from management. You didn't have to be rich to shop there, either; in fact, their clientele was mostly other hippies like me.
Then they hired a Big Grocery guy to run the place and things started changing. I still, once we moved out to the ranch, would drive into Austin to Whole Foods for things I couldn't get in Georgetown. This was also about the time they became what can only be described as predatory in going after other markets (which is different from simply expanding into them, this was ugly). And then they slowly but surely eliminated the items that I drove in for, and those items became available at the HEB in Georgetown, and I now have absolutely no reason to shop at Whole Foods. If I'm going to drive into Austin to a grocery store, it's going to be Central Market, which does what Whole Foods would like to do SO much better and anything there you could get at a regular HEB (same produce, say) is the same price as at any HEB.
Given what I've watched WF become over the years, this isn't a surprise.
I think most people who shop there already know their products are way more expensive than other stores but just don't care. Now it seems there was some misrepresentation as well. Will you stop shopping there now?
No, I wouldn't stop shopping there because of this issue. As someone else already said, every grocery over/undercharges on something. Seems to me more like a stupid mistake then outright deception.
I don't shop there mainly because they are on the other side of town, their food is fantastic compared to Teeter so I don't mind paying a little extra depending on the item.
Whole Foods is a racket plain and simple. The distressing thing about it just how many people are convinced that unless they do their shopping there that they will be poisoned or develop cancer. Whole Foods shoppers are, for the most part, a bunch of groupies who believe things like "the public water system is poisoned", "only organic food is safe", and "government suppresses the truth about the lack off safety of our food supply". The basis for the success of Whole Foods is nothing less than unjustified fear and paranoia on the part of a substantial segment of the public. I don't buy into any of this, but I'm shocked at the number of people who do.
Whole Foods shoppers are, for the most part, a bunch of groupies who believe things like "the public water system is poisoned", "only organic food is safe", and "government suppresses the truth about the lack off safety of our food supply".
The first two statements are frequently true. The third is not--people are just not listening to the government when it says the first two statements are true.
Nope, I shop my local Whole Foods because it's convenient, it has a more extensive bulk foods section than any other grocery in my area (meaning that I can bring my own containers & avoid disposable packaging), and I like the people who work there.
I honestly do not understand why anybody cares where another person shops for groceries. It's not like WF is pushing Walmart, Kroger, Aldi, and Safeway out of the market. You are still free to buy your foodstuffs wherever you want, regardless of where I go. It's wasted outrage.
Last edited by randomparent; 06-25-2014 at 07:15 AM..
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