Whole Foods plans three new Austin stores

[latikeriii]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

They're evil.

My dad's company was asked to go up there to discuss being a supplier for a product line of theirs. Basically, within an hour they were trying to strong arm them into signing a contract with no legal review. The contract stated that at anytime during the life of the contract they could roll back their cost-per-unit to the original cost. They also want to be 75% of a company's business so that you are forced to pretty much let them run your company since you are now dependent on the Wal Mart tit. They walked away from it. They spoke to the company that they would've replaced and that company said signing on with WM was the worst mistake they made. Even though they were producing more than ever, their profit margin was negligible and they were cutting wages to keep up with the beast. They actually got a call once from their WM rep and he said,and I quote, "That new building must have a pretty large mortgage. You wanna keep making the payment?"

Plus, a lot of their brand name products are crap. There's a reason a lot of the models of TV, computers, DVD players, etc. are only found at WM. They tell producers to hit a price point if they want shelf space. So even some (not all) of the brand name stuff isn't up to the quality of their products sold elsewhere.

Same thing happened to my dad, he used to work for a picture frame manufacturer and they always tried to strong-arm and bully them into pricing that wasn't even profitable for the company. Also, when damaged product arrived to the warehouses(caused by the Wal-mart drivers), they'd still charge back my dad's company. I have tons more dirty tactics that they use and I know that their expansion plans are to put as many businesses out of business and possible and to eliminate competition. I don't know why I shop there but hey, we're in a recession and NYC's is expensive (I drive over to NJ's Wal-marts).

[llkltk]

It's a 36,000 sq. ft. store, and it is replacing one of the current tenants.

[calel]

Gateway vs. Domain- its a tough call but the Domain is worse. I like some of the places in there but almost refused to go because it is so out of the way and impossible to get in and out. What a mistake that place is.

The trick with the Domain is to take the Braker exit if you're heading N on MoPac (just stay on the feeder if you're coming from 183). Turn right on Braker, take the first light into the Domain. It's far safer than attempting to cross 4 lanes to get into the Domain a few exits up.

[orngkat]

There was a recent new story about how many of Whole Foods 365 canned and frozen produce products are sourced from China. It is right on the bag or can but most people don't bother to look if the packaging says organic. I don't know why the story didn't run here locally.

[llkltk]

Everything is made in China these days, so that is no big surprise.