Whole Foods Market is going to discontinue its littler, value-based 365-brand store idea, as per an interior notice from CEO John Mackey gotten by the American-Statesman Friday.
In the update, Mackey said the grocery chain will keep on working its 12 existing 365 stores however won’t open any new areas, and that employees of those stores will see no change.
“As we have been consistently lowering prices in our Whole Foods Market stores over the past year, the price distinction between the two brands has become less relevant,” Mackey said. “We believe that the price gap will further diminish.”
The choice implies that Whole Foods, which is situated in Austin and has been possessed by online retailer Amazon since Aug. 2017, is backing away from an initiative it began only three years ago, when it unveiled the 365 store idea as a less expensive, littler option in contrast to its regular stores.
Whole Foods said then that costs would be more cost-friendly at the stores in light of the fact that numerous items sold would be under its private name 365 by Whole Foods. At the time, Whole Foods was amid a downturn in business and consistently feeling pressure from its “Whole Paycheck” image.
The Austin area is home to one of two 365 stores in Texas, with the other store in the Houston zone. A year ago, the American-Statesman detailed that Whole Foods planned to open a 365 store at Interstate 35 and East Fifth Street by the second half of this current year, however it’s unclear now if those plans will go ahead.
Since Amazon took over Whole Foods less than two years ago, the Austin grocer has seen a few changes.
While value checks by the American-Statesman and other research firms have appeared generally speaking expenses have for the most part continued as before, Whole Foods has associated its Amazon Prime rewards system to the chain and furthermore brought down costs on a few things. It’s additionally begun a curbside and grocery delivery service and integrated both companies’ websites and operations. Since the merger, the grocer has also promoted more of its 365 brand at regular stores.
Altogether, Whole Foods has in excess of 490 stores over the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and employs around 89,000 individuals.
