Please Don't Let This Happen

[BarTopDancer]

Whole Foods may peruse Wild Oats (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a1CdVwM9uvMs&refer=news).

I love Wild Oats (Henry's Market) produce and bulk. I find Whole Foods produce seriously overpriced and their selection not nearly as nice as Henry's. I will be so sad if this happens and Henry's goes away.

:(

[Kevy Baby]

Whole Foods may peruse Wild Oats (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a1CdVwM9uvMs&refer=news).

I love Wild Oats (Henry's Market) produce and bulk. I find Whole Foods produce seriously overpriced and their selection not nearly as nice as Henry's. I will be so sad if this happens and Henry's goes away.

:(With today's ruling, I believe that this merger is now inevitable.

ETA: I thought we had discussed this previously (http://www.loungeoftomorrow.com/LoT/showthread.php?p=154449#post154449). No big deal; it just caused me to remember something about this.

[Ponine]

Whole Foods may peruse Wild Oats (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a1CdVwM9uvMs&refer=news).

I love Wild Oats (Henry's Market) produce and bulk. I find Whole Foods produce seriously overpriced and their selection not nearly as nice as Henry's. I will be so sad if this happens and Henry's goes away.

:(
I fail to see why you percieve this as a bad move. Enlighten?

[Morrigoon]

So... they'll be selling of the Henry's Markets, it seems?

[Capt Jack]

great! maybe they'll turn the one Henrys by me back into a Liquor Barn

[BarTopDancer]

I fail to see why you percieve this as a bad move. Enlighten?

I love Wild Oats (Henry's Market) produce and bulk. I find Whole Foods produce seriously overpriced and their selection not nearly as nice as Henry's. I will be so sad if this happens and Henry's goes away.

:(

If Whole Foods buys Wild Oats (Henry's) and turns them into Wild Oat's stores then their produce selection/quality will go down and the prices will go up.

[Not Afraid]

COOL! Maybe they're be able to continue expansion.

[Kevy Baby]

I did a little searching and while I could not find anything specific, it appears that they would not be keeping Henry's/Wild Oats in their existing format.

And in terms of locations in California:
On the conference call with analysts, WFM was upfront in saying they expect to close and or relocate a number of existing Wild Oats locations. There seems to be significant redundancies in the California market. Wild Oats operates 34 locations in California with 29 of those locations branded as Henry’s Farmer Market. Whole Foods operates 21 locations in California. I’m thinking many of the Henry’s locations will be closed or relocated because these stores are smaller in size and do not fit the size specs of WFM locations.From here (http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandautopsy/2007/02/implications_of.html).

Since we occasionally shop at the Henry's Marketplace in Yorba Linda and I agree with BTD about selection, I will be sad to see the change. But WFM has its advantages as well. Overall, I am mostly :eh:

[BarTopDancer]

I'm mostly bummed about the produce. I can always count on them to be so much better and cheaper than any other grocery store. I found the few Whole Foods that I have been in seriously overpriced, packaged like TJs or over-ripe.

Guess I'll be starting my hunt for a decent farmers market or going to the OC Swap Meet for my produce (they have a great selection usually).

ce la vie.

[Kevy Baby]

I hope WFM carries milled oats. We use that as bedding substrate for the dragons. Also, I can find dandelion greens at Henry's as well - the dragons LOVE those.

[Ponine]

Maybe its just me. I dont see this as a bad merger.
From what I have read they will keep some stores, and close others.

If they take the Wold Oats line, which they didnt completely close in the first place, those stores have remained failry intact.

The Henry's that I shop most just underwent a major overhaul anyway, and looks like a mini Whole foods...
I guess I just need to re think this, my apologies.

[Chernabog]

Yeeeeeeeech I hate hate hate Whole Foods. The whole shopping experience is like this chaotic mess of incredibly overpriced fiber and granola. (Even just regular things cost three times as much; I remember I bought some chicken soft tacos and a beverage, and it was like $12, WTF) Just thinking about going in there keeps me "regular".... hopefully they won't run Henry's in the same way, or I'll never shop THERE again either.