Below is a listing of all the articles for analysis.
Whole Foods Market in 2010: Vision, Core Values and Strategy
Please respond to the following questions in accordance with the syllabus guidelines.
Question 1. As you read about Whole Foods and their specific strategies what struck you as positives and/or negatives. Are there certain strategic elements that were particularly insightful about what Whole Foods does? Are there any glaring weaknesses that could jeopardize their success?
Question 2. The formulation of strategy must take into consideration the dynamics of the industry and its competitors. Whole Foods has two main competitors, Fresh Market and Trader Joe's and others as well, as identified in the case. How has Whole Food's strategy been influenced by these competitors?
List of articles:
1) The Nielsen Company,“Healthy Eating Report for 2008,"January 21, posted at
http// blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/ consumer, accessed March 10, 2010
2) Lieberman Research Group, 2009 Organic Industry Survey, a study conducted for the Organic Trade Association and posted at www. Environmentalleader.com/2009/05/06/us-organic-sales-up-by-171/, accessed March 10, 2010, Anne Macey,"Retail Sales of Certified Organic Food Products, in Canada, in 2006," a study commissioned and published by the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada, May 2007.
3) Datamonitor, "Food: Global Industry Guide, "www. researchandmarkets. com/ research/ 18f9c2/ food_global_indus, accessed March 11, 2010.
4) Based on data in “Organic Beef Profile," Iowa State University Extension,www. agmrc. Org, accessed on March10, 2010.
5) Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture .data accessed at www. ers.usda.gov on March 25, 2008.
6) Whole Foods Market, 2009 10-K report, p. 51.
7) Whole Foods Market, 2009 10 –K report, p. 10.
8) Company press releases, February 19, 2008, and February 16, 2010.
9) Whole foods Market, "Letter to Shareholders," 2003 annual report.
10) Holie Shaw, “Retail- Savvy Whole Foods Opens in Canada," National Post, May 1 2002, p. FP9.
11) See Karin Schill Rives," Texas-Based Whole Foods Market Makes Changes to Cary, N .C., Grocery Store," News and Observer , March 7 ,2002
12) Calculated from data in Exhibit 5.
13) Whole Foods Market, “Letter to Stakeholders, “2009 annual report.
14) Company press release, February 16,2010.
15) As quoted in Marilyn Much, " Whole Foods Markets: Austin, Texas Green Grocer Relishes Atypical Sales, " Investor Business Daily, September 10, 2002.
16) As quoted in " Whole Foods Market to Open in Albuquerque , N.M., Santa Fe New Mexican, September 10, 2002.
17) Information contained in John R. Wells and Travis Haglock," Whole Foods Market, Inc.," Harvard Business School case study 9-705-476.
18) Company press release, January 21, 2003.
19) Company press release announcing Whole Foods Market's inclusion on Fortune's “the 100 Best Companies to work For" list, January 21, 2010.
20) Whole Foods Market, 2009 10-K report, p. 14, and company press release , January 21 ,2010.
21) As quoted in John. Wilson.“Going Whole Hog with Whole Foods," Bankrate.com, posted December 23, 1999, and accessed March 21, 2010. Mackey made the statement in 1991 when efforts were being made to unionize the company's store in Berkeley, California.
22) Company press release, January 21, 2010.
23) Whole Foods Market, 2009 10-K report, pp. 28 and 34.
24) Whole Foods Market , 2009 10-K report , p. 42; 2008 10-K, p. 48; and 2007 10-k report, p. 43.
25) Slide presentation at Whole Foods Market's annual Shareholders meeting, March 8, 2010.
26) "Frank Talk from Whole Foods' John Mackey”, Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2009, https://online.wsj.com,accessed March 13, 2010.
27) David Kesmodel and John. R .Wilke," Whole Foods Is Hot, Wild Oats a Dud—So Said Rahodeb," Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2007, http//online.wsj.com/article/SB118418782959963745.html, accessed April 7, 2007.
28) Andrew Martin," Whole Foods Executive Used Alias," New York Times, July 12, 2007,
htpp://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/business/12foods.html,accessed April 7, 2008.
29) Ibid.
30) Company press release, October 5, 2007.
31) According to a July 13, 2007, posting on a BusinessWeek message board,
htpp://www.businessweek.com/careers/managementiq/archives/2007/07/who_advises_joh.html,accessed March 26, 2010.
32) Company press release, February 16, 2010, p.1.
33) Trader Joe’s, www.traderjoes.com,accessed December 1, 2005.
34) In 1977, Coulombe sold the company to German billionaire Theo Albrecht (who had since put the company in a trust); Albrecht was a cofounder of German supermarket chain Aldi.
35) Trader Joe's: The Trendy American Cousin," Business Week, April 26, 2004, www.businessweek.com,accessed March 29, 2010.
36) “The American Way of Aldi," Deutsche Welle, January 16, 2004 www.dw-world.de,accessed March 29, 2010.
37) Matthew Boyle, "Tesco Needs a Fresh Start www.cnnmoney.com, accessed April 7, 2008.
38) As quoted in Bruce Horovitz,"British Invasion Hits Grocery Stores," USA Today, April 7 , 2008. P.B2.
39) Ibid.
40) Ibid.
41) As quoted in "Fresh, But Far from Easy," The Economist, June 21, 2007, www.economist.com,accessed April 7, 2008.
42) Company press release, April 15, 2008.
43) "Tesco Faces Growing Losses in US," Daily Mail, April 21, 2009 www.thisismoney.co.uk,accessed March 30, 2010.
44) National Foods Merchandiser, June 2009 p.12, www.naturalfoodmerchandiser.com,accessed March 31, 2010.
45) Jay Jacobwitz,"Independent Retailers Need New Customers: The New‘integrated' Foods Shopper”, Merchandising Insights, November2009,htpp://wfcgreenbook.com,accessed March 30, 2010
46) This section is based on information posted at the Sunflower Markets website (www.sunflowermarkets.com) and in Joe Lewandowski,"Naturals Stores Freshen Their Strategies" Natural Foods Merchandiser, January 1 ,2004,www.naturalfoodsmerchandiser.com,accessed November 19 ,2009.
47) Connie Gentry, Katherine Field, and Marianne Wilson,“Forty Under 40: Small Chains Flourish," Chain Store Age, January 2009, www.sfmarkets.com,accessed March 31, 2010.
48) Ibid.
49) David Giddens,"Sprouts Growing in Texas," Dallas Business Journal, June 10, 2005, www.dallas.bizjournals.com,accessed March 31, 2010