Of course John, you believe in capitalism. You have created a store with excellent products that I and most people I know can not afford to purchase on any regular basis at your stores. What middle class family can possibly afford to do so?

More and more, day by day capitalism, especially noted in the alternative health care industry and whole food business, subjugates the lower and middle class to inferior products that endanger our health.

BTW, if I need vitamins the last place I shop is Whole Foods, Wild Oats and the like. Anyone who does throws their money away. Internet shopping is where its at for value.

This is quite an impressive interview. I must say that I agree with most of what you had to say. We live and learn. My company does the best it can for the benefit of everyone. However, in order to do so we must apply certain business formulas that others might misunderstand. Obviously the price that we pay for most products today are farce. And it is very difficult for a natural skin care company with goods made in the US to compete with a lot of the cheap chemical stuff coming out of China. We have a lot of room left to grow.

PS. I shop at one of your stores all the time. As a mother of 11 young children, can we have like a buyers club or something?

Tammie Umbel, CEO
Shea Terra Organics
http://www.sheaterraorganics.com

My name is Menno Troyer. I am the Libertarian Party candidate for State Representative, Florida House District 69.
First I want to say that I, too, would really like to see you running as the LP candidate for president in 2008. The LP needs someone who brings fresh vision to the Party, and has a message that will resonate with the masses. I am a hardcore Libertarian who is strongly opposed to any attempt at diluting the classic LP platform, but I do believe that we need to start over by focusing on issues that the people care about the most, and present the Libertarian answers to those issues in a compelling way. Please consider running in 2008. You have this classic Libertarian’s vote!

I have to say your views are quite refreshing and thought provoking. Thanks to you, I am now beginning to understand for the first time how a business can and should focus on a variety of objectives rather than just long-term profits, without hurting long-term profitability, in fact enhancing it.

Thank you for sharing your enlightened views.

Personally, I’m very dissatisfied with the LP – it’s too radical and the party establishment often shuns those who are not as radical as them. I’m part of the Libertarian Reform Caucus (http://www.ReformTheLP.org), which is working to make the party become a real political party, with realistic solutions and practical reforms that could turn the LP into a sellable product. Check it out if you are interested. You sound a bit disatisfied with the movement as well.

Anyway, seriously, you should seriously consider a candidacy in 2008. Thanks for your time (and for your great business).

I loved reading your interview. (out loud to my vegan teenage daughters). Eight years ago my kids were the only vegetarians in their school- now they have ‘turned on’ dozens of others to more than just vegetarianism. They lead by quiet, peaceful, non-condemning example. Just like your business.
W.F.M. has been a great example to us and how we run our business. (Although we have a long way to go.) We provide your stores in the Mid-west with our great pies. In 1998 your buyers helped to educate us on the dangers of hydrogenated oils. Since then my husband and I formulated our own blend of all natural shortening. We feel this has helped us to improve our product and has opened our eyes to other dangerous things that do not belong in the human food chain, like high fructose corn syrup, artificial preservatives, colorings, bleach, G.M.O.’s etc…
As a food producer I thank you for being a great business example and modeling responsibility. I also thank W.F.M. for purchasing our pies and keeping 80 plus Achatz Handmade Pie employees working and hundreds of Michigan farmers as well!

Wendy Achatz-
Co-Founder- Achatz Handmade Pie Co.

I know you probably won’t remember me, but I was the food buyer at Prana House when you and Renee started “Safer Way” Foods. Regarding your financial challenges in your first year, I remember that you learned quickly the difficulties in succeeding while trying to offer something unique in the market. I’ll never forget your anger when I bought bananas for Prana House during the store’s opening week. Seems they were offered below your cost in order to attract customers. Little did I know!

I’m glad you and Renee succeeded. I enjoy shopping at Whole Foods. I love the atmosphere in the store – it reminds me of Austin, even when I am shopping in Dallas.

However, I am concerned that Whole Foods may have strayed from its original intent. I would like to see more local and organic products, even if there is loss of variety. My priority would be local, organic and sustainable practices, with minimal transportation.

That said, I still prefer Whole Foods Market. While it may not be perfect, it is still way above the typical grocery chain which offers few products that are not highly processed and offers little or no service. Please tell me that Whole Foods won’t be going to self serve check out!

Belated congratulations.

Valerie Dalton

I come to you from your West Vancouver store, and have to agree with a lot of your philosophies and innovative ideas. This is because everything happens at the store level, right at that intereaction between the customer and the worker. As the team member, we don’t work for the money, thats for living, we work for the values that we hold onto, and thats making people happy. So one could agree with what you were saying about team member happiness, which is important. Whole foods treats us with respect, and dignity. With this dignity, we take joy in carrying out happy forms of customer service.

Unions, long ago were a neccessary evil in Germany, America and other communities as they coped with industrialization, when it was a new sphere of influence, they were created so the worker could get fair pay and a decent wage. Back then they were neccessary for healthier working conditions, as people were dying under poor work conditions. This is not the case today, as one could see them working against progress, as long as the worker is treated fairly. To be honest, I am happy to say that whole foods has treated us fairly, and with dignity and respect. We can see the beauty and effect that our displays and our service give the customer, they are happy to shop with us. So I give you a real thumbs up for what you have created.

My only contention is this, and its our higher prices, customers often find the prices upsurdly high, and how do we interact with these people to offer them price sensitive products. Its hard sometimes when they compare shopping at whole foods like shopping at a high end car dealership rather than a mainstream automotive dealership like say toyota. How can we reach that demographic, could we institute some form of price sensitive products, and give them pamphlets that tell them about our pricing?

One has to say something, whole foods is a great company, and our service is given with happiness and respect for our custuomers. One can find a gracefulness in this interaction, and wholefoods makes this possible. To the customers of wholefoods, we should congratulate and thank them for their support of us. Hopefully the cycle willl always continue with their blessings

Let me explain. In addition to shopping in your store in Boulder, Colorado, I publish a holistic magazine that exactly targets your shoppers. I (and my 400+ advertisers) depend on your company’s generosity, which is: your stores’ offering my free magazine to their customers in a free media display area near the front of their stores. All your Colorado stores have extended this generosity till now. This community has flourished because of it: 400 small businesspeople have flourished, and around 150,000 readers (among them many of your employess) have been inspired to lead healthier lives because of the articles they read in my magazine.

Yesterday I learned that two new Whole Foods Markets in Denver will offer no space to free print media. I think this hurts your stakeholders, and so your company. In particular this hurts your customers, your team members, and your community. My magazine, and many others who are also excluded, educate and inspire these stakeholders: first, about healthy and responsible living, but also about their own communities–the people who ARE the vitality and the creativity of this town; the people who offer their expertise to help others; the people who ARE creating the world that your words so eloquenty evoke.

Please reconsider this decision, or ask your store managers to reconsider if the decision was theirs.

And I thank you for your heartfulness and for your intellectual brilliance. Both have inspired me to write this.

Ravi Dykema