Flutterby™! : Shared Disdain

In the ongoing antitrust investigation of Whole Foods' proposed acquisition of the rival Wild Oats chain, various Whole Foods corporate documents were supoenaed by the FTC. These were to be part of the public record, and those involving trade secrets and WF strategies were to be heavily redacted. However, the FTC accidently released a fully readable version of the documents. They corrected the mistake quickly, but not before AP downloaded a non-redacted copy. Now the cat is out of the bag.

The documents show that WF will probably close a lot of WO stores to insure the profitability of the WF outlets; no surprise there. What is interesting is that WF insists that suppliers agree not to sell directly to Wal-Mart stores. They must go through distributors,which increases Wal-Mart's costs. It is fascinating that Whole Foods and Wal-Mart have suppliers in common. I imagine the news will horrify patrons of both establishments: Wal-Mart customers will see their favorite store dealing with a bunch of Bolshevik hippies, while Whole Foods aficianados will be appalled with any connection to the hill-billy proles who haunt the world's largest retailer.