The Arctic Monkeys of retail
Posted on February 28th, 2007 by Jackie Danicki
If this New York Times profile is anything to go by, Whole Foods is getting to be like that formerly obscure band that you liked until they had the audacity to score a number one.
I love Whole Foods, probably more than I should, in part because it’s so much better than anything we have in London and because it was founded by a strident free marketeer. (I love that part in the NYT piece where one customer laments that the chain has become more “commercial”. Um, yeah, it’s a store, and its purpose is to sell stuff.)
The customer in question had just returned several items she’d just bought that had expired sell by dates… commercial isn’t the first word that’d come to my mind.
Sounds from the NYT like it wasn’t an isolated case.
That company’s in trouble if it can’t find a way to pursuade it’s customers they’re getting something better than safeways for the premium prices.