Topic: Whole Foods Market Inc.

Technology: John Mackey & Blogging as a Web 2.0 Entry Point

The undercover online discussion board activity of Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey is already a great lesson in the challenges faced by corporations in a Web 2.0 communication environment and an excellent place to start my fresh ...READ»

Perception vs. Reality

Going through the blogs on the Fast Co site, I was particularly struck by the insights contained in a blog entitled: Fish on Friday: Two Dramatic Statistics Bracket Today’s Sweet & Sour Economy.The writer, Charles Fishman ...READ»

How Can You Pick Green Products That Will Thrive Through The Downturn?

slate's The Big Money site takes up the question, noting that the recession might actually be good for the environment on balance. After all, the greenest shopping is not shopping at all. Next best is buying secondhand.READ»

"I No Longer Want to Work for Money"

From a letter sent November 2 by Whole Foods Markets CEO John Mackey to his employees. On the same day, the grocery chain warned that sales growth would slow in the year ahead. Its stock dropped 23% on the news.READ»

The Culture of the Bag

My wife and I have this on-going joke about the baggers inconventional grocery stores and how they get all flustered when you bring in your own reusable bags. This afternoon we brought in two bags from Whole Foods and were ...READ»

Leapfrogging

Once in while I hear someone talk about innovation as leapfrogging the competition. I love this phrase because it's so bold. It not only says we are going to innovate on the level of products or processes or management, but also ...READ»

Cracking Open the Sun. At Last.

A single minute of sunlight striking the earth provides enough energy to meet the needs of everyone on the planet for a year. Which means that a day of sunlight provides 1,440 years of power. We just don't harvest that power very ...READ»

Go Ahead... Change the World

There is only one worthwhile reason to start a new business or launch a new product and that is to change the world. Sure, changing the world is a daunting task for any entrepreneur or brand manager to add to their to-do list. But ...READ»

Employee Innovator Runner-up: Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods nurtures democracy, putting their health plan to a company-wide vote. The outcome: satisfied workers and ultimately happy customers.READ»

Fish on Friday: Two Dramatic Statistics Bracket Today’s Sweet & Sour Economy

Recent news from Whole Foods and IBM seem to capture -- in very personal ways -- both how deeply serious the short term pain in this economy is going to be, and how amazingly regenerative the economy is likely to be.READ»

• IBM's "Smart Planet" Initiative Announced

Whole Foods Gets a Whole Lot Bigger

MarketWatch has reported that Whole Foods has purchased rival natural-foods grocer, Wild Oats, for $565 million. Whole Foods has struggled in recent months, reporting a decline in fiscal first-quarter profit, largely due to ...READ»

Whole Foods Invades NYC's Greenmarket

This week Whole Foods market opened a new 50,000-square foot megastore across from New York City's Greenmarket in Union Square, by far the most vibrant farmer's market the city has. Whole Foods has vowed to be a good neighbor and ...READ»

Big-Box Colonialism

Last week Wal-Mart dropped its plans (at least for the time being) to enter New York's urban landscape after labor unions rallied ferociously against the mammoth retailer. While my ideological side relishes with pride over the news, ...READ»

Responding to Alison's Post

Per Alison's post where she asks - How do your companies talk about customer service? How do they teach it, and how do your corporate leaders embody the company's service principles (or do they)? Customer service is something that ...READ»

Whole Foods Is All Teams

To check out the future of democratic capitalism, get in the checkout line at whole foods market -- where all work is teamwork, everyone sees the numbers, and people vote on who gets hired. Sound too soft? It's on track to become a billion-dollar company.READ»

Is Your Company Closing the Gap?

The Aspirational Gap that is. Ever heard of it? If you are marketing a lifestyle brand then you must do everything to close the Aspirational Gap. A gap exists between a consumer's aspirations and their actual lifestyle. All ...READ»

Customer Focused Companies

Smart companies focus on customers. They don't ask for government bailouts.READ»

• Evolutionary Economics: Bottom Up Solutions to Business Problems

Fish on Friday: Biz News Beyond the Ticker

A Friday sampler of business news and innovation from beyond the normal biznews channels. Medical care that comes to you — 7 days a week A veteran Austin technology entrepreneur has started a service that sends a doctor or ...READ»

Whole Foods Turning Banners Into Luxury Bags

The Glen Allen, Virginia branch of Whole Foods is turning its old retail banners into an unexpected luxury item: handbags. The store joined with recycled luxury handbag maker Passchal for the Passchal Whole Foods Banner Bag line, ...READ»

Fast 50 2008: Whole Foods

Long before Apple created boutique computer stores that make customers drool, Whole Foods Market was opening grocery stores that made food shopping a mouth-watering adventure. Part of Whole Foods' success, part of its style, ...READ»

• Presenting the 2008 Fast 50
• The World's Most Innovative Companies
• The Faces and Voices of Google

Whacked-Out About Whole Foods’ CEO Mackey

Just reading the headlines online this week about Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, you’d think he had been caught committing a felony, perhaps something particularly debauched. • The Motley Fool: “Rotten Behavior At Whole ...READ»

Building Consumer Experience Value Using the Power of Metaphors

Metaphors not only transfer associations from a previous experience to a new one, they function as shorthand to help people understand the consumer experience offering and what it means in their lives.READ»

• Steve McCallion's Beyond the Widget blog

Play for Pay

Progressive leaders such as Whole Foods's John Mackey are capping their pay in order to lead by example. "The tremendous success of Whole Foods Market has provided me with far more money than I ever dreamed I'd have and far more than ...READ»

The Anarchist's Cookbook

John Mackey's approach to management is equal parts Star Trek and 1970s flashback. It seems like a recipe for disaster, but at Whole Foods it's a prescription for world-beating growth -- and maybe for a world-changing company.READ»

Greenpeace Ranks Sustainable Seafood in Grocery Stores, Wegmans Tops List

Greenpeace's third edition of the Carting Away the Oceans seafood sustainability scorecard brings some heartening news: over half of the leading U.S. supermarket chains have made progress in seafood sustainability. Many have ...READ»