On Feb 16, 10:58*am, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> Metspitzer wrote:
>
> > The grocery chain, which mostly entices young, trendy city dwellers,
> > is now moving into smaller, suburban areas where its new, smaller
> > stores are seeing stronger returns. But to make it work, Whole Foods
> > has to rid itself of its top-dollar reputation. A nickname like "Whole
> > Paycheck" will make it tough to draw in the new demographic, since
> > lower-priced competitors are homing in on the fresh-food fad.
>
> Their old business model is suffering in the current
> recession, so they are trying Trader Joe's model.
> The problem with this is they're carrying the baggage
> of the old model. *A smarter move would have been to
> use a new name for the stores in the new model, so
> people wouldn't think of the high prices for small
> portions of overpackaged food. *Instead, they're
> cheapening the high-end name while hobbling the
> venture into mid-range stores.

You beat me to it......I was going to reply that they are emulating
Trader Joe's.....