Amazon opened its first Amazon Go Grocery store in Seattle at the end of February, ballooning the size of its “Go” footprint to about 10,000 square feet; more than five times larger than the 1,800-square-foot original Amazon Go store. Both “Go” and “Go Grocery” models use Amazon’s cashierless checkout system.
Mark 2019 as the year natural organic sales momentum shifted from Amazon to Aldi. The German hard discounter has deftly adjusted its assortment to include more natural organic food options, many of which it sources for its vast private label selection from the same contract manufacturers that core natural brands...
Earth Fare, begun as a single natural foods store in Asheville, NC, in 1975, was one of the first in the U.S. independent natural organic retail sector to invite financial investors in the 1990s. Under equity control, stores grew to 40,000 square feet, and expanded initially across the southeast, and...
Over half of all products sold on Amazon’s website are from third-party sellers that either warehouse the products with Amazon, or ship them directly to customers themselves. In round numbers, there are three million active third-party sellers on Amazon’s site, over one million of these new in 2019, representing over...
At WholeFoods Magazine, we address our monthly commentary toward U.S. independent natural products retailers. We do this out of our belief that it is independent retailers operating in the natural organic space that best represent the mission, values, and yes, the soul of the natural products movement. It was independent...
Amazon is growing rapidly. Just not in its physical stores. In late October, the company reported an overall 24% increase in revenues during its third-quarter (Q3) compared to the same period last year. Revenues in Q3 were $69.9 billion, and for all of 2019, will easily crest $200 billion. Amazon...
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hearts Ever play hearts? It is an odd card game because there are two ways to win: ending with the fewest, or no points; or winning all the points. Each heart is worth one point. No other card is worth a point, except the queen of spades, which is worth...
Our ruling-class politicians have ordered us to increase starting wages, and let’s not kid ourselves, our largest competitors, such as Walmart and Amazon, are smiling as they gladly digest these costs, knowing their smaller rivals—you!—are more likely to choke while trying to. Let’s also understand that a retailer’s largest expense...
We’ve now twice lapped Amazon’s August, 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods Markets. With the benefit of hindsight, do we believe Amazon was executing a long-planned, well-thought-out strategic move to offer only the highest quality, premium groceries to U.S. shoppers? Reporting in a July 28, 2019, piece in the New York...
In April, 1976, more than 43 years ago, Marlene Beadle launched her first 1,000-square-foot natural foods store in Federal Way, Washington. It would eventually become the two large Marlene’s Market & Deli stores in Federal Way and Tacoma. Marlene, who passed away in June, was remarkable for many reasons. She...
