1. Go to the Whole Foods Market company website. Navigate to the link that provides the History of the company. Read through the material in that link.
2. Read the following material from the Harvard Case coursepack:
a. Wells and Haglock: Whole Foods Market, Inc.
b. Whole Foods Market: Where to Next?
c. Whole Foods Market: The Path to 1,000 Stores
3. Visit a Whole Foods Market location. As you walk through that location, take note of how the business is organized, what products it sells, what its employees appear to be doing, and how you would describe the customer base.
4. Download and review the financial statements and ratios for Whole Foods Markets, Kroger Company, and Safeway Company. Consider the following questions:
a. How does Whole Foods product mix affect the structure of the financial statements and the outcomes of its financial ratios?
b. How has Whole Foods growth strategy affected the structure of the financial statements and the outcomes of its financial ratios?
c. How does the financial structure and performance of Whole Foods Market compare to the other grocery store chains?
i. How do differences in product mixes, target markets, and growth strategies explain the differences in the financial structure and performance you observe between the three companies? (Check the Kroger and Safeway websites to see how they are different).
Question
Write a two-page paper addressing the following questions. Supporting documentation in the form of tables and charts can be added as appendices.
- What were the economic and sociological driving factors behind the original entrepreneurial idea for Whole Foods Markets?
- How what strategies has Whole Foods Markets employed to grow the company?
- Does the financial evidence suggest that the operating and growth strategy has been successful?
- From where has the financial funding to grow Whole Foods Market come?
- What are the prospects for Whole Foods Markets continued success in the marketplace?
- In what way does the company need to continue to be entrepreneurial in its approach to its business?
• How will it best fund it's growth in the future?