Raising its healthy eating banner higher, Whole Foods is aiming to impress the millennials with a new chain of stores that offers cheaper yet healthier food options.
John Mackey, co-CEO, said that the store would never compromise on the quality of its product, instead, it will focus on reducing prices through “lower capital, lower cost and perhaps even lower labour costs.”
He added that the new stores will be additional to the existing chain and will not become an alternative for those shopping at their current stores.
Investors, however, take a different view of the move, expressing concern as share prices for Whole Foods fell notably when the new chain was announced.
To draw in more traffic, the natural food market giant has recently pulled tricks out of its bag, mainly an expansion in its rewards program and the aggressive pursuit of advertising its “values” slogan to buyers.
According to executives, the Value Matters campaign has, so far, been successful, and will only be expanded to include multimedia tools such as video, digital display, mobile and social ads.
Critics pointed out the slow rise in sales during this quarter; 0.8 per cent as compared to 2.4 per cent in the same quarter a year ago. Store officials claim this is due to more locations sprouting up and eating up the traffic for other stores close by.
The increase in competition from many different channels and the ever increasing demand for natural foods and products is what has pushed Whole Foods to step up its game.
