Slaton's dashboard

Hello there, Best way to get our Real Estate team interested is to gather a group of friends and send emails with the suggested location to newstore.requests@wholefoods.com. Thanks for letting me know and hope something turns your sad face into a happy one today:)

the indian food in the new york stores rocks

Hello there, while I'm not an expert on this subject by any stretch of the imagination, I can tell you that what it comes down to is our reliance upon false assurances from the vendor in question was a mistake. The meat was processed in a facility that was not approved by Whole Foods Market and as such should never have been sent to our stores in the first place. While only 4% of the affected meat processed by Nebraska Beef was sent to our stores, this is still a serious issue that is receiving the undivided attention it deserves by our team. Here's the latest on the recall effort: http://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/pr/...

Also, a bit of information on some misconceptions that you might have come across: http://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/pr/...

Hope this helps explain the issue somewhat and please let me know if you have any other questions/ concerns.

Our local HEB has the WHOLE FOODS section/mentality. I really like their meat products. It is the only ground beef that I will eat. The DOWN side of all of the freshness happening there is that they must be destroying a lot of food. I wish that the grocery stores would DONATE close-dated and "not perfect" produce to charity! Many stores in Michigan where I lived before now would donate to help with the hunger issues.

I am EXHAUSTED from trying to feed my family the highest quality, nutritious foods without going bankrupt. I am forced to shop at about 5 different stores that do NOT carry groceries as the primary attraction. I must do this because Whole Foods prices are not accessable for all foods. I can get a box of mini wheats at "other" stores for $2.00, OR Whole Foods/HEB for $4.99 and up!

Bio fuels are great, but they are making the foods that children live on extremely expensive. Milk, cereal, corn based foods, grains, wheat, etc. are off the charts. Our basic grocery bill has gone up about $400.00 PER MONTH!

Even Sam's club is not better. Whole Foods needs to realize that we will buy LESS organic, LESS nutritious foods and start feeding our families Ramen noodles if they do not reduce costs.

I don't need all of the fanfare! No balloons, fancy hats, gormet looking plates etc. under my lunchmeat. Just quality without the wine tasting please!

I HATE TELLING MY CHILDREN THAT THEY CAN NOT HAVE MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES BECAUSE THEY COST TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!

I've visited California. With all the tasty edibles available I probably wouldn't shop Whole Foods as much as I do in southeastern PA. Still, that grilled chicken salad I mentioned is as good as anything I had in San Francisco. There are plenty of duds in their selection, and it can be obnoxious when you land one of them, but I'd be in hell if I had to shop at a traditional grocery store out here. – Lewis, on August 14, 2008 03:30

^^that's really true....but then again I live in California...and there are many places to get excellent prepared food. – John O'Day, on August 14, 2008 00:26

Medium-grade cafeteria food? I've been addicted to a Mediterranean grilled chicken/two kinds of olives/feta/red pepper/red onion salad at WF since the spring. I don't know what kind of delicacies you're used to chowing down on, but Whole Foods has plenty of things to like. In Pennsylvania, 98% of the grocery stores want to sell you ice berg lettuce with shredded carrots and canned vegetables at their bars, and even at more progressive stores like Wegmans they still use hydrogenated oil like it's going out of style. Whole Foods isn't perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than no Whole Foods.

i don't really know about why they do that. they do use fresh fish, as it is the standard of the company. it is true that the company has stopped allowing people to take product home, and it bothers me too. but at least here, our excess is donated to local women's shelters and homeless shelters.

Good point! – Amy Muller, on July 20, 2008 18:29

Just skimming around this old topic and want to say that Whole Foods must be doing something right, i.e. treating their employees very well. Jessie has stayed with them since 1997 and Slaton since 2001!

Thor shop for groceries?? Haha! ;) – Amy Muller, on July 02, 2008 22:10

I love it how Amy and Thor (a couple) banter with each other about Whole Foods on Get Satisfaction... Don't you guys talk to each other when you're out shopping for groceries??? :P – Ben Metcalfe, on July 02, 2008 21:58

Hey, glad to hear you liked some of those ideas. I got a million of 'em. (Too many sometimes, so take them with a grain of salt.) Call on me as a fellow blogger if you ever want to brainstorm more! – Eric Suesz, on June 15, 2008 07:41

great to hear, slaton! let me know if i can help in any way @ all. lane -at- getsatisfaction -dot- com – Lane Becker, on June 13, 2008 17:33

Thanks, Thor. Appreciate it very much. Take care:) – Slaton, on June 13, 2008 14:04

Wow! Eric, this is some really terrific feedback! Really appreciate every bit of it. Completely agree that we need to broaden our flickr approach to include pics tagged with "whole foods." It would make for a much more interesting viewing experience for sure and help develop a strong online community. Also, the suggestion to include an image with each post is dead on. One of my favorite blogs is 101Cookbooks and Heidi does an amazing job including beautiful photos with each of her posts -- doesn't hurt that her writing style is witty, humorous and throughly engaging as well. On the note, yes, we also need to lighten things up a bit and hopefully get folks to express a bit of their sense of humor here, which, believe me, everyone I work with on a daily basis has an advanced degree in...lol.

Completely game for adding the Get Satisfaction widget as well and will get with folks to see how quickly we can do so. It's the perfect environment, with exactly the right tools/ features, for our customers and those interested in Whole Foods to have their questions addressed. Really like the transparent nature of it all and cannot wait to get more folks here! Thanks, again, and stay in touch. – Slaton, on June 13, 2008 14:03

Hello Sarah!

The difference in pricing on these items is due to the difference in packaging materials. The PET (clear) plastic is more expensive to produce than the HDPE (frosted) plastic. There is a slight storage benefit when using PET plastic. For our customers that buy several gallons at a time, the PET gallon is the ideal product. For our other guests that buy water for immediate consumption, and want a great product at a value price, the HDPE gallon is the preferred item.

Thanks for the question!

Hey Sarah, Thanks for the question. I don't actually know the answer, but I will make sure that someone with the knowledge responds here. Again, I'm not privy to the reason for the price difference, but can tell you that different packaging can vary in price, which would impact the final retail price. Anyway, be sure to check back here for an answer. Hope all is well with you. Thanks.

Yes, I saw that the blog launched. I'm a big blog reader -- especially food blogs. I'd say that the blog looks pretty darn good. Great name for the blog. Well-designed. I like the sidebar.

The Flickr pics are good, but I'd love to see what other Flickr users tag as "Whole Foods" instead. For example, I did a quick search for "whole foods" on Flickr and this was one of the first shots I saw: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dianav/2...

That's the kind of customer-sourced image that is perfect for your blog, IMHO. Community!

One thing I always try to do: Include an image with every single blog post, if possible. Even a small one that is only thematic. As a former magazine editor, I am biased toward using images as the best way to draw people in and read the first sentence. I think most readers are similarly biased. I think images are incredibly important, especially w/r/t food.

Likewise, I might broaden the content a bit and talk about the love of food. Food porn, food surprises, food discoveries. I don't know if that is more ambitious than what you are planning, but if you want a large readership, you would do well to sprinkle in some recipes and employee favorites (books, food, you name it!). And, while you're at it, why not spotlight your own favorite blogs you discover. Cross-pollination! (And it doesn't have to be on your blogroll.)

I loved reading the post about organic food from China. Very informative. But, I would also try to stress fun. Blogs that are fun and interesting and compelling and informal are the ones I go back to every day.

In short, I think it's a wonderful start, and you've got tons to write about! I don't even see blogs from Zupan's or Trader Joe's or anyone else in your space. So, own it!

The only other thing I wouldn't mind seeing is a Get Satisfaction widget on that blog. Sorry. Again, I'm biased.

Oh, one other thing. My favorite blog that is cool and fun and different and which I implore everyone to steal from is Photojojo: http://photojojo.com/. Their DIY attitude may not completely fit with the Whole Foods brand, but it would be cool if it did.

Right on! Congrats for launching the blog!