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fjtorres · 06-16-2017, 11:18 AM

They're upscale supermarkets, as a "bonus".

What they bought is the Whole Foods Market chain of natural/organic supermarkets. Average size is 40,000 sq ft, the biggest 80,000 so there should be enough space to host AmazonBooks mini (and not so mini) stores. Plus lockers.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market

Here’s ZDNET’s report, with pretty pics and all.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-...96500774529668

Essentially, it is a marriage of convenience: Whole Foods was looking to expand into digital, Amazon was looking to expand into B&M groceries. Now Whole Foods saves the money they needed to spend, moves to AWS to save operating costs, and most likely joins Prime.

Given their upscale target market, I wouldn’t expect a big difference in listed prices but they’ll probably offer a flat discount to Prime members.

Amazon also gains another 431 facilities in the US, Canada, and the UK for same day delivery. Plus another 90,000 employees. Whole Foods has been profitable as a standalone so it’s easy to see why Bezos is keeping the management team in place. If nothing else to see what they can do with Amazon resources behind them. They were planning to close 9 stores but now I’m thinking they may pivot towards expansion.

As ZDNET says, this is going to be interesting. Not least because Walmart has been targetting organic as a way to move upscale.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market

I don't know if Whole Foods sells books but since AmazonBooks targets the same general demographic it would be a natural combination.

06-16-2017, 11:18 AM	#1
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Amazon buys 430 B&M locations They're upscale supermarkets, as a "bonus". What they bought is the Whole Foods Market chain of natural/organic supermarkets. Average size is 40,000 sq ft, the biggest 80,000 so there should be enough space to host AmazonBooks mini (and not so mini) stores. Plus lockers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market Here’s ZDNET’s report, with pretty pics and all. http://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-...96500774529668 Essentially, it is a marriage of convenience: Whole Foods was looking to expand into digital, Amazon was looking to expand into B&M groceries. Now Whole Foods saves the money they needed to spend, moves to AWS to save operating costs, and most likely joins Prime. Given their upscale target market, I wouldn’t expect a big difference in listed prices but they’ll probably offer a flat discount to Prime members. Amazon also gains another 431 facilities in the US, Canada, and the UK for same day delivery. Plus another 90,000 employees. Whole Foods has been profitable as a standalone so it’s easy to see why Bezos is keeping the management team in place. If nothing else to see what they can do with Amazon resources behind them. They were planning to close 9 stores but now I’m thinking they may pivot towards expansion. As ZDNET says, this is going to be interesting. Not least because Walmart has been targetting organic as a way to move upscale. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market I don't know if Whole Foods sells books but since AmazonBooks targets the same general demographic it would be a natural combination. Last edited by fjtorres; 06-16-2017 at 02:47 PM.