Last year Whole Foods bought Wild Oats, which was another popular natural food store chain. I remember hearing the news at the time, but thought that it was a corporate matter, and that it would not bring about visible change to the customers. Silly me. I really like Whole Foods and can find almost everything that I am looking for when I shop there, but today I saw one of the negative sides of having a monopoly in the natural foods market.
There was a Wild Oats in my town long before Whole Foods arrived, and we always used to go there to buy our special organic products, and stay for lunch as a treat. When Whole Foods came into town, I started getting my groceries there. Recently, however, I had rediscovered the myriad bulk bins at Wild Oats. They carried spelt flakes, barley flakes, and other more hard to find whole grain products. They also sold bulk spices, which is much more economical than paying $5.00 for each bottle, even if you only need 1 tsp. Well today, after not having been back since the summer, I noticed that it was no longer called Wild Oats, but officially another Whole Foods Market, and that inside there was no trace of individuality to be found. I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed. When I went over to the bulk bins I could no longer find my favorite barley flakes, or spelt flakes for that matter. When I asked for help, the man said that they were no longer carrying them. I asked if it had to do with the fact that they were now a Whole Foods. He quietly nodded his head. Then I ambled over to the prepared foods section, where there used to be a Japanese noodle bar. I used to look forward to getting a bowl of hot udon noodles with inari and shitake mushrooms, a dish that is hard to find even in the best sushi restaurants around here. Because of the change, there is no longer a Japanese noodle bar either. There is the same salad and hot foods bars as in any other Whole Foods Market, and of course the ubiquitous sushi station.
I know that barley flakes and Japanese noodle soups are not a make it or break it issue, but I am starting to feel that Whole Foods is turning into the kind of company I never thought it was. It is weeding out its competition, and offering the same products in all of its stores. Similar to Starbucks, the Gap, and other American brands that are the same in every town, which have led to the homogenization of America.