Prime prices
Amazon clips Whole Foods costs Buy yourself a little time
SAY GOOD-BYE Paycheck.
Whole Foods reduced the price of a half-gallon of milk 50 cents, ground beef $2, and organic avocado a dollar in New York on Monday — among the several discounts coinciding with the first day of Amazon as the new owner of the upscale grocery.
The e-commerce giant, which bought the national chain for $13.7 billion, plans to make its $99-a-year Amazon Prime the rewards program for Whole Foods shoppers looking for bargains, while some of the grocery’s products will be sold on the Amazon website.
Before the takeover, Whole Foods was derisively labeled “Whole Paycheck” by shoppers frustrated with its high-priced items.
Now, the store will model itself more like Walmart, which to Whole prides itself on lower prices.
On Monday, shoppers were excited about the discounts.
“The ground beef was definitely cheaper,” said Domonique Glover as she shopped inside the new location in Harlem.
“The price of organic milk was lower,” the public school teacher said. “I hope it’s going to be all lower prices on everything, not just six or seven items.”
The Harlem location on Lenox Ave. and 125th St. opened its doors last months after five years of planning.
“Healthy food is important,” she added. “I’m glad Whole Foods is in Harlem. There were so few supermarkets before.”
In Chelsea, shoppers were welcomed with a giant sign exclaiming “We are growing something good Whole Foods + Amazon.” Josh Baer, 31, said he didn’t notice the discounts.
“Usually, I get a little produce and granola and it comes to $50,” he said. “It’s a mystery what will happen. Whole Foods started out rootsy. Hopefully Amazon will help with the prices. They are probably going to go mainstream.”
Amazon-Whole Foods has 465 physical stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. It is right behind Walmart, Kroger, Costco and Albertsons.
The takeover by the Seattlebased tech giant was questioned by grocery workers.
A union representing food-industry staffers was worried the Amazon move would hurt competition. The union asked the Federal Trade Commission to review the deal.
But the sale was approved in part because Amazon didn’t have a foothold in the grocery industry. BUYING TIME, rather than things, may be the secret to happiness. Time-saving moves like hiring a cleaning service or getting groceries delivered satisfies people more than spending money on material items, according to a recent study from Proceedings of the National Academy. For two weekends, the researchers gave $40 to the same group of 60 adults, all under age 70. One weekend, they were to spend it on a time-saving service. The next weekend, they were told to make a material purchase. The participants reported more positive emotion after spending on the time-saving service. “Using money to buy time can protect people from the detrimental effects of time pressure on life satisfaction,” the study said.