This is going to make things the retail / grocery industry a lot more interesting. Amazon has been dabbling in B&M. Now they're jumping in with both feet.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news...nEhWcCFUU.znhVXgrA--

Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion

Amazon (AMZN) is buying Whole Foods (WFM) for $13.7 billion, the company announced on Friday.

In a statement Friday morning, the online retailer said it would buy the high-end grocer for $42 per share, more than the $33.06 per share Whole Foods closed at on Thursday.

In a statement, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, “Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy.

“Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades – they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.”

John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, will remain CEO of the company and its headquarters will remain in Austin, Texas.

The companies expect the deal to close in the second half of this year.

This move comes as Amazon has made ever-larger moves into the grocery and fresh-food space, which has been a battleground for online retailers that, en masse, have not been able to make huge strides in the space.

The deal is Amazon’s biggest deal ever, topping the $1.2 billion the company paid for online footwear retailer Zappos in 2009.

In pre-market trading on Friday, Amazon shares were down slightly, off about 0.2%. Whole Foods shares were halted for trade shortly after 9:00 a.m. ET.

these B&M stores make great local distribution centers for groceries that were ordered online.

Want to make a lot of money? Buy stock in Whole Foods a week ago (Or in Apple when it was $15 per share).

I know someone in the record industry know saw early on what Apple was doing with iTunes, and got in early.

quote:

Originally posted by Scoutmaster:
Want to make a lot of money? Buy stock in Whole Foods a week ago (Or in Apple when it was $15 per share).

How does shopping at Whole Foods make buying groceries fun?

Do the employees put on a lil skit as you walk in the door ala Southwest Airlines?

I can just see it....
Bezos: "Alexa, buy me something at Whole Foods".
Alexa: "Whole Foods purchased"
Bezos: "SHIT!"

quote:

I can just see it....
Bezos: "Alexa, buy me something at Whole Foods".
Alexa: "Whole Foods purchased"
Bezos: "SHIT!"

ROFLMAO

quote:

Originally posted by IndyRob:
How does shopping at Whole Foods make buying groceries fun?

Do the employees put on a lil skit as you walk in the door ala Southwest Airlines?

The ones in San Diego were stocked with weird stuff and filled with funny smelling hippies.

quote:

Originally posted by IndyRob:
How does shopping at Whole Foods make buying groceries fun?

You kidding?

Walk down their 'nutritional supplements' aisle and see how much the marks are paying for 'extract of weed du jour.'
If that doesn't put a smile on your face, it's time for sense-of-humor rehab.

I was at a sales meeting last month, one of the guys who handles Manhattan territory, we were chit-chatting in-between sessions regarding online business and e-tailing. He was saying that his Wall Street friends were saying, if things remain on the current trajectory (this purchase was one of them), over 50% of all purchases in the US (vehicles, homes, appliances, medicine, produce, hardware, materials...) will be through Amazon within the next 5-8 years. Obviously unforeseen things will happen and market forces will introduce competition at various levels but, that's a remarkable and scary future where a single company has that much market share.

quote:

The ones in San Diego were stocked with weird stuff and filled with funny smelling hippies.

Whole Foods has a fine selection of Patchouli Oils for those funny smelling hippies.

In fact that might be the source of the odor.

If you want to pay high prices for food, find odd things (people and product) then whole foods is the place.

It's the one merchant where Amazon can probably pull it off having higher margins than other retailers in the grocery market.

I can't see it for me, but I'm sure some hipster is going to go on Amazon and order groceries to be delivered by uber...

I remember their first store, in Austin, back in the early 1980s. I sure never would have thought it would turn into a 13 billion dollar outfit. We shopped at the Clarksville Co-op. It was cheaper.

Amazon has changed the business atmosphere for sure.

In fact, Wal-Mart and Target are experimenting with same day delivery. They have a store employee deliver the packages, instead of handing the package off to UPS/USPS. And since Wal-Mart has a HUGE network of stores (mini distribution centers), they can effectively cover 95% of the US population with same day delivery. If it works it could finally be good competition for Amazon.

^
You would think. But so far, they've been pretty flat footed in dealing with Amazon.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I can't see it for me, but I'm sure some hipster is going to go on Amazon and order groceries to be delivered by uber...

I have the majority of my groceries delivered via Instacart. And we buy a lot of our non-perishables via Amazon Household. I'm probably the weirdest looking hipster you'll ever see.

I think it is a brilliant move. They get a place that sells as much locally sourced food as possible that can be used for same day delivery. It sells food at a premium and Amazon doesn't have to build infrastructure, it just gets it.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:

quote:

I can just see it....
Bezos: "Alexa, buy me something at Whole Foods".
Alexa: "Whole Foods purchased"
Bezos: "SHIT!"

ROFLMAO

Haaaaa! You win Post-of-the-Day, Kevin.

quote:

Originally posted by mark_a:
I think it is a brilliant move. They get a place that sells as much locally sourced food as possible that can be used for same day delivery. It sells food at a premium and Amazon doesn't have to build infrastructure, it just gets it.

well it IS paying handsomely for it.

Its a great move for WF. After two losing quarters, the executive team was catching lots of negative press on how they were going to stop the spiral. This was the answer to a prayer for them at least...