Whole Foods CEO anonymously trounces rival...then buys them

[MadMonk]

Whole Foods CEO Attacked Rival Online

Whole Foods CEO Attacked Rival Online
Jul 12 03:45 AM US/Eastern

DALLAS (AP) - The chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc. wrote anonymous online attacks against a smaller rival and questioned why anyone would buy its stock, before Whole Foods announced an offer to buy the other company this year.

The postings on Internet financial forums, made under the name "rahodeb," said Wild Oats Markets Inc. stock was overpriced. The statements predicted the company would fall into bankruptcy and then be sold after its stock fell below $5 per share.

In February, Whole Foods announced it would buy Wild Oats for about $565 million, or $18.50 per share.

The company acknowledged that the postings by "rahodeb" were written by CEO John Mackey.

They were made public this week as part of a lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission to block Whole Foods from buying Wild Oats on antitrust grounds. Regulators say the sale would combine the two largest organic and natural foods retailers and raise prices for consumers by concentrating too much power in one company.

Austin-based Whole Foods defended Mackey's postings, saying they were being taken out of context years later. "Mr. Mackey made those postings from 1999 to 2006 under an alias to avoid having his comments associated with the company and to avoid others placing too much emphasis on his remarks," Whole Foods said.

The company added that many of Mackey's opinions in the postings "now have far less relevance than when they were written. In addition, like most people, Mr. Mackey's opinion about some things has changed over time."

Whole Foods concluded by saying the comments were Mackey's, not those of the company.

One posting, from January 2005, questioned why anyone would buy shares of Wild Oats at their price then of about $8 each, The Wall Street Journal reported. "Would Whole Foods buy (Wild Oats)? Almost surely not at current prices," rahodeb wrote. "What would they gain? (Their) locations are too small."

Rahodeb also said Boulder, Colo.-based Wild Oats' management "clearly doesn't know what it is doing." The company, he wrote, "has no value and no future."

Mackey has led an unusually public countercharge to the FTC's attempt to block his company's purchase of Wild Oats. He has said both companies compete in a much larger market because many traditional grocers now sell organic and natural foods.

Mackey used the blog on his company's Web site recently to bash the FTC. He ridiculed the FTC's reasoning that it needed to stop Whole Foods from eliminating a competitor. If that were the case, he said, the FTC should never permit any mergers because they necessarily remove a rival from the marketplace.

The blog broadside by Mackey came after the FTC moved to release sealed documents which quoted the CEO telling Whole Foods directors that buying Wild Oats would help the company "avoid nasty price wars" and block a bigger retailer from building a national natural-foods chain.
The FTC lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Washington.

Should I expect the Wal Mart haters here to begin boycotting Whole Foods now because of their "evilness"?

[kmf563]

I don't even know what a Whole Foods is. Do we have those here?

[Misty]

It's the exact opposite of Wal Mart. LOL It's an upscale natural and organic grocery store headquartered in Austin. I'd love to have one here but I don't see it happening for a long, long time. People in OKC like fast food and Wal-Mart. There is a small group of us that want something better, but the majority of OKC loves McDonalds and $2.97 t-shirts.

[Easy180]

It's the exact opposite of Wal Mart. LOL It's an upscale natural and organic grocery store headquartered in Austin. I'd love to have one here but I don't see it happening for a long, long time. People in OKC like fast food and Wal-Mart. There is a small group of us that want something better, but the majority of OKC loves McDonalds and $2.97 t-shirts.

Sad but true Misty...But let me correct your last sentence if I may

Majority of OKC loves McD's and free t-shirts

[Misty]

LOL, I love you Easy. You always crack me up. Now let's go buy our 3.2 bud light at the Wal Mart!

[Misty]

Look, here's the map from the Whole Foods website of where they have job openings. Notice the leaf in the left corner, even Canada has Whole Foods before Oklahoma and it's headquartered a state away. But look, we're in good company. Arkansas doesn't have one yet either.

[Misty]

i always have trouble with pics

[kmf563]

lmao. I wish I could accurately describe the vision I just had in my head of what Oklahomans would think about one of these stores. It comes close to one of those on-the-scene-news spots immediately following a tornado or a shoot out. You ever notice, especially the national media, always finds some toothless guy named Bubba or Earl to give a recap of what they saw?? Anyway - one of these stores sounds very cool. I would shop there. I hate walmart. Love free t-shirts though. I sleep in mine though, don't wear them in public. Unless it's from a band and it's not one of those one-size-fits-all. That's a completely different topic. one size does not fit all.

[MadMonk]

Misty, the way you describe it, it's heaven on Earth. I have yet to go in one, but it sounds great! Do they have butlers at the door? Are the shopping carts gold plated?

Seriously though, what makes it so much better? The atmosphere? The clientel? I'm sure there are some niche items there that are great, but for the most part, bread is bread and milk is milk. From the way you go on about it, I can't help but picture a crowd of customers there looking like Thurston Howell II and Lovey.

"Lovey, I simply must have that package of free-range chicken. Please have our personal assistant place it in the cart for me."

[okclee]

Look, here's the map from the Whole Foods website of where they have job openings. Notice the leaf in the left corner, even Canada has Whole Foods before Oklahoma and it's headquartered a state away. But look, we're in good company. Arkansas doesn't have one yet either.

Oklahoma is in EXCELLENT company, along with Arkansas, Mississippi doesn't have a Whole Foods either. Okla, Ark, and Missi, you know we are well thought of now.

Btw, when is downtown Okc going to get a Super Wal-Mart??

[mikekrauss]

Misty, the way you describe it, it's heaven on Earth. I have yet to go in one, but it sounds great! Do they have butlers at the door? Are the shopping carts gold plated?

Seriously though, what makes it so much better? The atmosphere? The clientel? I'm sure there are some niche items there that are great, but for the most part, bread is bread and milk is milk. From the way you go on about it, I can't help but picture a crowd of customers there looking like Thurston Howell II and Lovey.

"Lovey, I simply must have that package of free-range chicken. Please have our personal assistant place it in the cart for me."

Bread is not Bread, ever been to Panera's?

Milk is not Milk, ever have milk that wasn't full of hormones?

so on and so on... it is sorta like owning a Harley. If it has to be explained you probably won't get it anyway.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

I like McDonald's and wet t-shirts.

[MadMonk]

Bread is not Bread, ever been to Panera's?

Milk is not Milk, ever have milk that wasn't full of hormones?

so on and so on... it is sorta like owning a Harley. If it has to be explained you probably won't get it anyway.

My, how pretentious.

Unless I'm mistaken, Panera Bread doesn't sell their products in Whole Foods. We weren't talking about a specialty bakery, just a grocery store. Even so, Panera's bread is okay - a step up from Wonder - but like many specialty chain store products, they are overpriced. Go to a local non-chain bakery and you'll find as good (probably better) quality and a better price. The down side is that you won't be able to brag to your friends about being a bread connoisseur, but hey, sacrifices are part of life.

BTW, I once had a Harley, but sold it. It was a great bike, but I've also had a great Suzukis and Hondas. You've completely missed the point (and failed to answer the question as well). Aside from specialty items, what makes Whole Foods so great? All I've heard so far is pompous, style-over-substance type answers.

[Misty]

I'm having trouble posting!

[Misty]

Ok let me try again:
Check out the website, it's not just a grocery store. It's a store specializing in natural products. Read the Declaration of Interdependence and it will answer your question MadMonk, it's too big to post.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

Whole Foods is a very high quality grocery store, and is actually reasonably priced considering their foods are organic. I used to shop there in NJ often for certain things (I actually went to Wegman's more often, which is far superior but there is no chance its coming down here).

I just don't understand why one would not do well in OKC, as opposed to Tulsa (which has a Wild Oats, which is now, well, a Whole Foods). Its so frustrating. Everyone I know would shop there, even if just on occasion. People are clammoring for better choices than Walmart, and the few other places that are here (which are all the same, nothing upscale). Akin's doesn't come close because its mostly a vitamin store (and only carries frozen meat). With Albertson's leaving, I just don't know what to do.

Arg. Double Arg.

[metro]

JerzeeGirl, perhaps you should check out Crescent Market or Crest until we get a Wild Oats or Trader Joes or the like. You might be impressed, especially with Crescent Market. Although it's not nearly as big as a Whole Foods, the service and products are very upscale and service personal.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Crest?

Upscale?

Does.Not.Compute.

[HFK]

Am I the only one that sees the irony in bashing WalMart for selling cheap clothing and calling a whole foods grocery store "upscale"? Yeah, some folks are just looking for a place to buy good food, but plenty of others are looking for an upper middle class status symbol in the form of a grocery store. Their culture is seeped in elitism, despite their egalitarian protestations.

[flintysooner]

Am I the only one that sees the irony in bashing WalMart for selling cheap clothing and calling a whole foods grocery store "upscale"?

Wait until you read the QuikTrip thread.

[foodiefan]

call it what you want, but to me it's not "upscale". . . .the attraction is "selection, selection, selection". Where else would you find 15-20 differenct kinds of olives/olive combinations?? Same for breads, meats, seafood. . .and all under one roof. . .it's like a combination of Akins/Med Deli on steroids. . . but "upscale"???. . . not to my way of thinking.

[betts]

I was just in Atlanta, and what I saw that interested me was 10 to15 tables out in front of Whole Foods. It was about 2 p.m. and almost every table was occupied by people eating food they'd presumably bought at the store, reading newspapers and generally relaxing. It was an appealing site.

And after spending a week in New York, I was impressed with all the sidewalk seating at restaurants there, despite far worse weather than we have here.

[JerzeeGrlinOKC]

JerzeeGirl, perhaps you should check out Crescent Market or Crest until we get a Wild Oats or Trader Joes or the like. You might be impressed, especially with Crescent Market. Although it's not nearly as big as a Whole Foods, the service and products are very upscale and service personal.

Thanks metro, I actually do like Crescent Market alot. I usually go there to buy fancy cheeses and their roast beef is awesome. However, they don't really have a great amount of selection for most items (thinking mostly the veggies), the deli and butcher are the only really cool thing about it (plus I like that its a locally owned and very friendly place). I don't get up there as often as I should, especially because they close at 6pm every day and I work late.

It's sort of like, to get everything I really want, I have to go to Med Imports/Deli, Crescent, La Baguette (Butcher), Akin's, Forward Foods (Norman), Braum's, and Cao Nguyen. I'm a foodie and its my passion. That's why I'm ripping out my hair here, it just seems like if all these places do so well, why can't we get something that has it all in one place?