Tue 8 Jan 2008
Starting January 1, 2008, seniors can no longer enjoy a discount at the former Wild Oats store in Bishops Corner.
In a curt message posted at the former Wild Oats store, visitors are informed that from now on there will be no discounts of any kind at Whole Foods. Previously, seniors who shopped at Wild Oats enjoyed a 10% discount. This discount was extended to students as well.
Whole Foods, the largest retailer of natural and organic foods, recently defeated the Federal Trade Commission in court when the government tried to block the $565 million purchase of Wild Oats Market. The court fight led to revelations that Whole Foods chief executive John Mackey had spent eight years posting anonymously on Internet stock message boards, alternately boasting about Whole Foods while trashing Wild Oats.
The FTC considered the two grocers to be the two largest players in a “premium natural and organic supermarket” category, intensely competing with each other across the country. If the acquisition went through, Whole Foods would have free rein to raise prices across the board, stifling competition and harming consumers, FTC officials said.
There’s no need to explain the failings of the deal to seniors now. They’ll be the first to feel it.
January 8th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
That’s free market capitalism baby!!
January 8th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Does this mean I should stop shop lifting there?
January 8th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
B&C Man, I think it means others might start asking you *to* lift some for them too while you’re at it.
January 8th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I’ll hafta get a coat with more storage space. I favor ones with water proof pockets. It facilitates the procurement of the bulk liquid products, ya know.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
really, why is this debate worthy? don’t like it, don’t shop there. i get my organz elsewhere anywho, they look down on moi when i make purchases with my foodstamps.
January 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
yeah, why should we expect anything more from a large corporation, no matter how supposedly forward-thinking it is? They still want to make as much money off us as possible.
January 9th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Yeah, but the salad bar is unbeatable.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
LOS– Agreed, which is why B&C man should be the designated shoplifter from the salad bar. Dude, can you snag some olives too?
January 9th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Whilst we’re taking orders, anybody want anything from the dumpster diving menu?
January 9th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I just remembered that Whole Foods does give food to Food Not Bombs in Hartford.
January 10th, 2008 at 12:00 am
What the corporados taketh on the one hand, they giveth on the other. Only not so much, and mainly for the good press and the tax bennies.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:21 am
unbelievable.
January 10th, 2008 at 10:41 am
not to start a fire or another 30+ comment flame war… but you guys are slow on your bashing reportage:
yourhartford magazine had a launch party yesterday. the format is 100% niche magazine albeit a little bit smaller and thinner, but it’s only the first issue. good news for the hators is that unlike niche, which is published 4 times a year, this one is only 3 times a year. nothing but glitz and glamour, it even has hartford celebrity section.
my favorite? although i didn’t read it, the profile of infamous dj lamarossa(pronounced “lame-o-rossa”) — the guy that converted his ‘92 toyota supra into a ferrari, smokin’.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am
ol,
I’m not sure what this comment has to do with Whole Foods.
BTW, if you don’t like the coverage of things here, why don’t you just take your own advice:
“really, why is this debate worthy? don’t like it, don’t shop there.” If you have a problem with a media activism organization, why do you continue to come here and expect us to ignore the many ways that the mainstream media is fucked up?
FYI, this might help to inform you about the HIMC’s goals and purpose, since you seem confused:
“Control of media has become more and more consolidated so that today, the vast majority of media outlets - newspapers, radio, film, publishing, television, and the interne- are owned by only 9 gigantic multinational corporations. The 9 corporations include Disney, AOL/Time Warner, Viacom, News Corporation, and Universal-Vivendi. Here in Connecticut, the Tribune Company, whose biggest assest include The Chicago Tribune and the LA Times, owns The Hartford Courant, The Advocate, WTIC TV, and the CW, as well as many internet sites. What obscene power! As a result, local news coverage has become less diverse, less concerned with the public interest, and often just nonexistent.
With corporate scandal, government corruption, war on terrorism, threats to civil liberties, and the sinking economy, the need for independent media has never been greater. The Hartford Independent Media Center (HIMC) is a diverse group of individuals, volunteering their time, united by the simple desire to provide the people of greater Hartford with alternative perspectives not covered by the mass media.
The Hartford Undercurrent is an open, voltunteer collective. We work to create a grassroots, non-hierarchical, anti-corporate forum for people to express themselves to be the “media”. We exist in order to provide a real alternative.”
January 10th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
i appreciate the dummy’s version on what you guys do here, trully.
i come here because i thought some of the discussions were interesting, and the ones that i can contribute to i throw in my 2 worthless cents. most of the stuff on the main page i don’t care for and ignore.
i’m too hung over to get into a larger comment right now, so maybe later. but news is news. i think local news are *very* stupid in their reportage, absolutely unwatchable to me. but, i don’t think it’s because they’re mogul media controlled, it’s because of the general idiot public to whom they report. i mean for christ’s sake, who the f’ cares about what the traffic is like at 5;30 when you’re already home and watching about it on tv?
have you thought about creating your own publication? i could contribute some excellent photography to it.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
ol, did you miss this?
http://hartfordimc.org/blog/2008/01/05/hartford-undercurrent-call-for-submissions/
January 10th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
sorry didn’t read that post. where does one pick up the publication(s)?
January 10th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
My two foremost thoughts about whole foods is that 1) the guys who work there are totally cute, and 2) the ceo is batshit crazy, as evident from his ramblings online about *himself* in the third person, from the perspective of a mysterious blog empresario. The stuff he wrote that wasn’t directly about himself made me even more nervous, in the same way that people who are super into Ayn Rand make me really, really nervous.
He is a True Beleiver, in that he says we might as well all stop asking the big questions about right vs. wrong, good vs. evil since the market is going to answer it all for us, and what’s most important–it’s totally fair!
My friend takes some small comfort that the company that put Cheese ‘n Stuff out of business– wild oats — is now itself being put to pasture. I just wish Willimantic was closer. That co-op is great.
January 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Has anyone been to Urban Oaks in New Britain? It rules. Organic, locally grown vegetables in New Britain? Hell yeah. They also have cute workers. And, the Whole Dudes CEO is kind of hilarious.
January 10th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I heard good things about Urban Oaks.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Junie Moon and Lord,
Cute workers seem to be a major draw for you both. In your view as high appeal consumer demographicals, how does Hooters stack up?