$14B deal leaves Amazon feeling Whole
Online juggernaut buys grocery chain
Amazon is buying Whole Foods in a stunning move that gives it hundreds of stores across the U.S., a brand-new laboratory for radical retail experiments that could revolutionize the way people buy groceries.
The deal, valued at $13.7 billion, unites the company that persuaded people to buy books — and then everything else — online with the grocery store chain, which fell behind as shoppers found “good enough” alternatives to the organic and natural foods it helped popularize.
Amazon already offers grocery-delivery services in five markets, but the Whole Foods purchase would let it expand to many more. Amazon also offers grocery shipments elsewhere, but that’s tough with perishable foods.
The deal could be “transformative,” Moody’s lead retail analyst Charlie
AMAZON
Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices broker Heidi Kasama, next year’s president of the Nevada Association of Realtors, told me a few months ago that AB161, as originally proposed, was a “well-intentioned bill” but would be a “nightmare” in practice.
Luxury gets a lift
Amid rising home sales in the valley, Las Vegas’ luxury market is climbing as well.
A total of 141 single-family homes sold for at least $1 million from January through May, up 33 percent from the same period last year, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
Ken Lowman, owner of brokerage firm Luxury Homes of Las Vegas, says 48 luxury properties changed hands in May, well above the typical 20 to 25 monthly deals.
It was the best month for sales since the luxury market peaked in 2007, he said.
Delinquencies down
Mortgage delinquencies have dropped in Las Vegas from a year ago but remain a bit higher than the national average.
Some 4.6 percent of borrowers in the Las Vegas area were at least 30 days late on their mortgage payments in March, down from 5.9 percent a year earlier, Corelogic reported this week. Nationally, 4.4 percent of borrowers were at least 30 days late, down from 5.2 percent.
‘Stay out of Malibu, Lebowski!’
The Dude may not have been welcome in this nice, quiet, little beach community in the cult classic movie “The Big Lebowski.” But for a hefty price, you can buy a Malibu mansion from Las Vegas Sun owner Brian Greenspun.
Greenspun — my former employer, as I worked at the Sun from 2012 to 2016 — is trying to sell a 10,000-square-foot home at 24860 Pacific Coast Highway for just under $27 million.
As shown on Zillow, the property was listed for sale on Tuesday, after being priced at $30 million last year.
The listing was previously reported by The Real Deal.
Greenspun, whose paper is distributed in the Review-journal as part of a joint operating agreement, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.