As a break from Election 2008, I'll tell you about another issue that has been bothering me. The Wild Oats store near my house has slowly been converting into a Whole Foods market. When I first heard about the takeover between the two companies, I was optimistic that the store would be improving and that the store was going to offer more selection. However, I've found quite the opposite to be true, with higher prices for no additional services, and now I'm starting to miss the old store. Follow me to hear more...
I've been a vegetarian for 12 years now, and have been vegan for about half of that time. Shopping in regular supermarkets is pretty difficult with the sneaky ways that the world likes to put dairy derived additives into everything. When I first went into a Whole Foods over a decade ago, the store was like walking into the Garden of Eden. Fresh organic produce was available, along with all sorts of meat alternatives and healthy food. The store was incredible with the selection that they offered and the prices, while higher than the local stores, were still within reach.
I've lived within a few miles of a Whole Foods or Wild Oats market for a long time now. Usually I've found that Whole Food has had a better selection of fresh organic produce while the Wild Oats may have had a different focus on other products. Still I could find anything I was looking for at either one of these stores usually, and get all of my shopping done.
When the announced the takeover of Wild Oats, I was a little worried that I would lose the overall selection that I could get from the stores. Now I realize that the selection is gone, plus the prices have increased instantly. Fresh carrot juice went up from 3.49 to 4.99 in one day. A cookie was 99c, now it is 1.79. Prices went up a dollar on the salad bar, and I'm sure other things have gone up as well. There is a reason why some people call the place, "Whole Paycheck".
I'm exceptionally disappointed with the new store. Instead of bringing a selection of healthy items, it has become a gourmet store of regular crappy food at higher prices. There are less items that are made with organic foods available in the deli. It is also actually getting harder to find items that don't have eggs and dairy in them. Just the other day I was trying to get fresh hamburger (well Boca burger) buns. Wild Oats always carried whole wheat buns that were dairy-free. So now I search the store, and all I can find is crappy white flour buns fresh that have eggs in them. WTF do you need eggs in buns for? The store is truly becoming all about the profits and less about providing healthy choices for customers.
What about the vegetarians, vegans and other healthy eaters that build your stores up when they were a small company???? Why are you trying to screw us? In addition, the amount of organic produce seems to be slowly dropping and now they are just selling fresh produce at organic prices. GRRRR!!!! I'm pretty pissed about the whole thing, and I've realized I don't have a lot of other places to go now. Whole Foods/Wild Oats had such a large percentage of the market that the smaller stores are out of business. I'd love a Trader Joe's or something to come here, but there are no plans that I know of. I so wish that Whole Foods would return to its roots of providing organic food at reasonable prices. Until then I'll try to navigate the organic world with farmer's markets and Community Supported Agriculture. Good luck to everyone else who is going to have their favorite store ruined by this new Whole Foods that is more interested about corporate profits than providing healthy choices for everyone.