Or is the presence of a Whole Foods Market (WFM) going to make the pie larger for organic produce?

I say the pie will be made larger by WFM educating consumers about the organic difference. If indeed knowledge leads to appreciation (and I think it does) ... a more knowledgeable consumer is better for both WFM and for the Greenmarket.

Now, to even hint at comparing WFM's business practices with Wal*Mart seems outlandish to me. Wal*Mart drives business AWAY from the city ... WFM drives business INTO the city. Wal*Mart is always LESS EXPENSIVE than competitors ... WFM is almost always MORE EXPENSIVE than competitors. Wal*Mart competes on LOW PRICES ... WFM competes on HIGH QUALITY.

Admittedly, WFM has grown in scale in part to the acquisition of regional natural and organic grocers. I'm not sure how much of Wal-Mart's growth can be attributed to acquisitions.

Indeed, Whole Foods is building a category that has inhabited parking lots and street corners for too long. The farmer's market phenomenon is chic again.

And I always wonder in any BIG vs. small discussion: If one of the vendors at Greenmarket carried the best produce, and was known for the best service and a real luxury experience, he would grow until he needed two trucks, and then a tent, and then... he'd BE Whole Foods. Success breeds size and eventually size breeds complacency, and the dance... continues.

Nowadays the detail market needs to change, remember how BIG Supermarkets started to grow and moved mom and pop stores, now is revenge for the small, flexible, thirty steps from cashier stores need to breath and to trow little rocks to Goliath even if they merger or integrate with middle retailers

Well there is a great benefit for the GreenMarket. An opportunity to take advantage of Whole Foods customer traffic. I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing. Most likely the Greenmarket will be cheaper than Whole Foods. And other people who didn't shop at the Greenemarket may add it to their list. In my experience, very few people shop exclusively at Whole Foods

WAL-MART sucks money out of town. So does any mass market retail establishment. A dollar spent at WAL-MART doesn't get recirculated in the local economy. It disappears with the exception of wages, which are really just moved from the companies put out of buisness by WAL-MART.

Once viable local economies used to send surpluses off to the big cities. Somehow these local economies supported banks, department stores, resturants, mansions, and local govermental infrastructure.

The emergence of mass markets has turned small town USA into a vast empty hulk of antique shops and quaint bed and breakfast operations. Tourism is the last economy. When you see a county seat that has turned its downtown into antique shops, you'll know we have a problem and WAL-MART isn't the half of it.

Going global only means turning the entire country into an antique shop. If you can't afford antiques, then you'll have to shop WAL-MART. If you can afford antiques, then maybe you'll shop Whole Foods.

The people who have previously posted clearly have very little backround on whole foods markets other than the usual window dressing comments. Allow me to expand these comments. To think whole foods will not hammer the greenmarket farmers is foolish. Little farmers tend to sell things at a slightly higher price at least in union square, hence when the behemoth accross the street The way the are trying to fend off any criticism is with a convenient donation the the union square parks dept. which has nothing to do not with the greenmarket farmers. They will also "feature" apples from one lucky market vendor in their store. Thanks Buddy. When they drive the farmers out they will simply replace them with someone new. Next. Whole Foods will DEFINITELY drive the 4-5 smaller health food stores in that immediate area out of business. Your darling of all that is good, Whole-mart has really turned into the 300lb gorilla with similar predatory pricing to match. Listen, i love the capitalistic notion as much as the next guy, but there are consequences when a 4b+ competitor opens and it will certainly be on the back of the small retailer or farmer. My problem mostly is with the do gooder image which is a pile of dung. This image is only to facialatate more earnings, not to actually do much other than cover their asses.