The plural of "Brit" would be "Brits" with no apostrophe, similar to the way plurals are made with nearly every other word in our language.

I went into Whole Foods the other day and I would never do my weekly shopping there. It was extremely difficult to find specific items, the lay out was terrible and it more than doubled my shopping time. If they moved any of the products around it would be hell. I don't think the price is the problem (though it is expensive) because people in the area can afford that, the problem is that the ease of using the store is extremely low.

I can't stand Whole Foods. If there were one in my town, I would continue shopping at my community-owned market.

Why on earth do they sell rambutans in the middle of Kansas?! They also only sell soaps from NewYork and other far off states when we have excellent soap makers in town.

Those Brits are smart. :-)

My sister lives in Colorado (and used to work in Wild Oats) and I live in the UK.

One of the things that's struck us both in visits and conversation is the difference in how organic food is branded and consumed between the UK and US. Stateside, it seems that the early adopters of organic food were wheatgrass-drinking suplement-popping fitness and health freaks. In the UK, on the other hand, the people buying organic produce tended to be foodies - extra fatty sausage chomping, local farmer-supporting, green-welly-wearing, beer-swigging, fair-trading, pick-your-owning, pie-eating machines.

I mean, just look at Prince Charles...

Consequently the marketing and branding of Whole Foods is not going to appeal to people who are likely to be buying food at a farmers market not because it's 'good for you' but because it's 'good for the farmers' and tastes nice. And the key demographic of early-adopter organic eaters in the UK is unlikely to support an international retail chain because it's precisely what they're trying NOT to support.

Not sure if there's any truth in it, (and obviously the demographic of those who buy orgainc food has shifted considerably in recent years) but I did wonder about the wisdom of Whole Foods setting up here for that very reason.

Recently a large supermarket chain in my home country admitted that it deliberatly increased the prices of locally grown organic produce because
"organic food is tipically bought by a urban, high-income, college-educated demographic".

Thus they increased the profit margin for the originally equally priced organic alternative by 100% in most cases.

An organic agriculture lobby proposed that in a one of the supermarkets for this chain they tried out pricing organic strawberries and cherries for only 20 cents more than the conventional ones. The result was that 80% of the people chose organic over conventional.

Although this destroyed their idea that status was the determining factor (eating education counts!) they still haven't changed their pricing policy despite claims that doing so would give them a competitive advantage.

But I believe that in a world where we can't afford to ship everything around or grow huge monocrops with minimum quality, going back to local organic is an inevitability.

The idea that quality is a luxury is also quickly vanishing.

Just another attempt by the American Capitalist machine to make money off of something whole and true...

I think that it is only in the USA and maybe Canada that the mega markets and branded everything is the norm.. Look at the rest of the work.. Lots and Lots of local markets selling local foods. Only in America do markets ship produce from California to Florida and call it fresh.

Go to Asia and visit a street market.... that's what it is about!!

I have heard people say that they "Don't Trust" food from a street or farmers market....

Think about this... at a mega market.. you have food from up to 2000 miles away... that was handled several times... most likely frozen.. shipped.. handled several more times and sold to you by some one who makes a wage regardless of the quality.

Then you have a farmers market.. food that was on the plant yesterday... handled allot less.... and usually sold by someone who's pay is a direct result of the quality of the products they sell. (at least in the grower/owner/seller scenario)

THE PRICE is it the issue. Whole Foods is for the wealthy.

When it comes to the environment, the spending habits of poor people matter! This site needs to learn that.

To be honest, I like Whole Foods, though I know it's the most expensive grocery store chain in Seattle. I have this nickname for them: The "Nouveau Pike Place Market!" However, I mostly shop at QFC, Safeway and when I can get there, Wal-Mart. Bear in mind though that their employees are well paid, so I tend to feel less like I'm ripping them off.

Apparently the store in London has also been negatively affected by lack of parking spaces. The wealthy of London drive and if you don't offer them convenient parking spots than they will shop elsewhere.

In the US, it seems that shopping at Whole Foods is more of a status symbol.

I know people who would shop at Whole Foods and buy apples shipped from Peru, rather than an an equally nearby Asian farmers market where they could buy fruits and vegetables grown organically and locally.

I've stopped shopping at WF. Not necesarily because of their prices, but because of their politics and the Wal-Martian way that Whole Foods treats its employees.

I don't really understand the hostility towards Whole Foods(formerly wild oats, but I prefer the Whole Foods as they are far more vegetarian friendly). I understand that they are higher priced than most places, but the local markets around here are even higher priced than that, and don't carry nearly as much. I can always find what I'm looking for at whole foods as compared to every where else when I have to search 11 different aisles to find what I want, IF they carry it. Also, I can usually something new to try. Plus, at least here, they were the leader in promoting reusable bags.... most other stores have caught on in the last few months, but it WF/WO has been doing this for years...

While I occasionally shop at the U-District Whole Foods in Seattle, I prefer shopping at our excellent local farmers markets and at our member-owned co-op, Madison Market. The freshness, quality and condition of the produce from our local farmers can't be beat.

And Whole Foods, while they love to tout their organic selection, carries maybe 50% organic produce vs. Madison Market who carries 100% organic produce and makes a decent effort to source locally. Also, let's not forget that supporting your local farmers and co-op markets helps reinvest your money back into your local economy vs. siphoning money off to Austin, TX and corporate shareholders.

whole foods is over priced bullshit healthy food shouldnt cost so much. gimicky

I agree with David. Wholefoods is really no better than any other supermarket chain. They sell the same old stuff, not significantly better, but marketed more towards the ecologically minded consumer.
Prices and politics aside, these so-called "green" markets may be on their way out as more and more companies and markets offer organic and earth-friendly products. Isn't that what we wanted to happen?

I used to go to Whole Foods as a treat, to get one or two items and, no matter the combination of stuff I would buy... I would leave the store feeling like I overpaid Then, Trader Joe's opened near my job... how happy they make me! It's fun to buy there and, best of all... it's cheap! The food is tasteful, good quality and the staff is friendly and helpful. There are no snobs and elite members of our society.
Whole Foods should learn that food is not a luxury. People know that already.

I don't see any discussion of their supply chain. One of the major problems that supermarkets have is their holding suppliers to ransom, and the fact that they want contracts with suppliers who can provide bulk at the right price.

Do they have the flexibility to, say, choose a tomato supplier who is 10km away over the big tomato distributor who is 200km away, but who can truck tomatoes (obtained from who knows where) to a number of their stores?

Sometimes you can't buy local all the time - I wouldn't want to eat the traditional Irish diet of mutton, potatoes and cabbage forever (or at all, actually) that is my heritage - but when you have idiocies of English apple growers being paid to grub up their trees while apples are being imported during the English apple season, supplier logistics is an important thing to consider, including organic bulk chains.

Forget Whole Foods. Sunflower Farmers Market is a much better alternative and is not afraid to carry both conventional and organic foods. The best thing is that the price is much better than WF.

It was a Shame when WF took over Wild Oats. A great store is now a sad shell of it's former self.

We had a store in Philly called Fresh Fields. It was glorious. It was like a farmer's market in a grocery store and we loved it. Then WF came and bought it and now I refuse to shop there. Even after my girlfriend and I moved to Orlando, we still prefer to shop at publix than WF. everything is so much more expensive there and it doesn't make too much sense.

In Los Angeles, Whole Foods has been named the Bohemian Bourgious, in free holistic publications. I worked at the main Whole Foods, in Austin, USA, for awhile.. It seemed to be a sort of club, for those working there; can't say I ever adjusted to the klatch click.
I also, before it merged with Whole Foods, worked for Wild Oats (for 2 years) ---that was quite a sublime experience.

I'm an American living in a suburb of London. I loe Whole Foods. I have food allergies and there are very few prepared foods I can buy in other places. I think the British don't understand Whole Foods. Sure you can "organic" stuff at Tesco. You can get an organic swiss chard or something but then what do you do with it? At Whole Foods you can get good, natural, prepared food. Sure it's more expensive but it doesn't have all the fillers that stuff at Saisbury's or Tesco has. And it's fresh. Just like if you made it at home but a lot easier.

The thing that ticks me off about Whole Foods is how frequently they have very poor quality produce on display (way, way past its prime). At very high prices, I expect very high quality produce. I used to think I was imagining this, until Marion Burros of The New York Times pointed out the same thing, in an article about 18 months ago.

Similarly, you have to watch them like a hawk to avoid buying items with an old expiration date. And when I was living in Miami, and a hurricane came through, they should have discarded items that required refrigeration, but they did not. So I purchased some tempeh post-hurricane, expecting it was fresh stock, but it was not -- totally spoiled merchandise. If I'm going to pay top dollar, I expect top-quality goods. Too often, Whole Foods has disappointed me.

I am an American living in London and welcomed the arrival of Whole Foods. I do think the lack of parking is an issue, but the larger issue has to do with two main British characteristics. First of all, they are cheap - the WWII mentality lives on here. The second reason is that they are not "foodies." While the quality of food has increased in the years I have been here, for the general Brit in the street, taste and originality in food is not encouraged. They are willing to make do with sub standard fruit and produce and fatty meat. They are not willing to pay for a superior product. I hope Whole Foods stays for the benefit of those of us sick and tired of dirty British supermarkets.

When I heard Whole Foods purchased Wild Oats I was optimistic that the chain I had heard so much about would offer an even better market than Wild Oats...But...I was wrong.

I am extremely disappointed with Whole Foods Quality. The produce is often shabby and spoiled. The store is always out of inventory. I have decided to shop at the regular grocery store in my area. The final straw for me was finding a PIECE OF BROKEN GLASS in some dough I bought from the Whole Foods Bakery. Totally unacceptable.