Business Insider is reporting that a whole slew of customers are saying Whole Foods’ produce is bad now that they’re controlled by Amazon.
They used an investor note from Barclay’s to back them up…but didn’t mention one HUGE DETAIL.
Barclays store checked Whole Foods in the Northeast, and found:
- “disarray”
- “significant restocking taking place at 10 a.m.”
- “products migrating to different areas of the store”
The day they visited?
NOVEMBER 20.
(aka--the Monday before Thanksgiving)
Can you tell me the state of just about every supermarket a few days before the biggest cooking holiday in the country?
I heard tales of completely wiped out shelves and frantic online order fulfillment personnel during that entire week from all corners of the country, as is pretty much expected.
I’ve been to Whole Foods several times lately – including a visit to the corporate headquarters store in Austin -- and haven’t noticed significant changes other than a few lowered prices, and a few flashy sale displays. I stopped by the 365 store in Cedar Park on Black Friday and found abundant, well-stocked displays -- for the most part -- but there were a few gaps, too.
That's nothing out of the ordinary.
I'm also a little skeptical about the squeakiest wheels on Twitter griping about their grocery store. The first one Business Insider quoted admitted only heading to Whole Foods to fill in items she couldn't find at the farmers market. I'm not going to judge a retailer's produce quality based on THAT shopper.
Show me some week-over-week analysis and reduced sales numbers, and we'll talk.