IDK for about the past 5 weeks (since I've had to dump health insurance I figure it's like the old Fram filters commercial "pay a little now or a lot later" ) i been shopping pretty much excusively at Whole Foods with the occasional Safeway run for certain things. My grocery bill has increased by about thrirty dollars per week BUT take into consideration that from about April last year till about Novemebr I was shopping dirt cheap (and nutrition cheap) at Krogers buying shit like kroger store brand white bread, store brand mac n cheese, Tinas burritos and crap...my bill averaged like 5-2 bucks a week. Then I went back to Safeway and gradually just started buying a bit better stuff and my bill increased a bit but I was still paying out the ass for insurance. So now i spend more with that in mind...
I never had good luck at Trader Joes....lotta ready to eat stuff and what not Perhaps I'd do better with my new gameplan but back in the day i would consistently hit like as much or more than safeway...sometimes my TJ's bill would be like 90 bucks or more. For me it was always on par with WF's. We have a Sprouts which used to be owned by Sunflower mrkt out of CO but I don't go there. I fuckin hate that store and I'm not sure why. Luckily a year ago a place called
Natural grocers opened up in the shopping center behind my house (literally about a 2 minute walk), the shopping center is a small place with other local stuff and built in 1946...it's reallt groovy inside, reminds me of the original Rays Ranch Market or an old school Hippie health foods store.... and the costs are cheaper than WF's so that's where I'm gravitating to now but i imagine It'll eventually be a mix of Safeway , WF's NG's and maybe some farmers markets.
I'm no economist but my guess would be it's like most businesses that have rapid growth...they over extend themselves first and foremost. Secondly in the WF's situation it's probably partly due to increased awareness and competion these days since organic and other things have shown more prominance in the mega chains (hellow Wal-mart) also many items can be had from Amazon and likewise...farmers markets have had a massive boom, etc.
also fwiw maybe it's just my locale but I don't find it anymore pretentious people wise than any other stores around here (but i live in a University centric/professional area of town). My Whole Foods which originally started in the same local in the early 80's as "Ray's Ranch market and then turned into some other Colorado health chain market and around 2001 turned into whole foods...anyway it's always been a mix. You get local middle class, universitie types, "intellectuals", sometimes you see #vanlyfe people (their Ford Transit van outside gives them away) and then you get the weirdos wearing surgical masks inspecting the cabbage section, some dude in Wtanglers and a Cowboy hat, etc
tl/dr....it is what it is ....oh and Mr. Polites bill was awesome
: :rawk: