| Today I ran into a former coworker at Whole Foods. I think she worked in the "front end" (i.e. checkout) whereas I worked at the bakery, so we saw different sides of the store. Also, we had different "team leaders" (managers). She read my book over the past week and she said she enjoyed the chapter on Whole Foods. She thought I was correct but added that she would have been a little less generous. I asked why.
She reminded me that the Whole Foods management was quite "corporate" in the sense that the employees cannot be themselves 100%. I hadn't noticed this because I came to Whole Foods from a previous job that was even MORE restrictive, so Whole Foods felt pretty relaxed. Also, my team leader was VERY chill about things. I asked her for details and she said employees could get written up for saying the wrong things to customers.
I'm sure in some sense this is normal at any place of employment (no telling a customer to "F" off anywhere, right?) but I was reminded that even in the bakery I was scolded for telling customers that "I don't like" certain foods. To me, that was just bogus. It's normal that people have different tastes and of course, every person isn't going to like SOME foods - even foods that other people like. Besides, I wasn't telling customers to buy nothing. I was saying to buy one tastier cake instead of a different, less tasty one. That should help sales, because customers who get a good tasting cake and excellent service will come back for more. (For the record - the Perfectly Sweet, Galaxy, and Sugar Plum Fairy brands at Whole Foods taste great, and the Fabe's brand is disgusting. They only carry it because it's vegan in my opinion. For better tasting vegan desserts, go for the Gianna's or Uncle Eddie's cookies, or stick to sorbet.)
The other point that my former co-worker made is that the prices on the grocery items are very high, for a processed (if organic) food that's been sitting on a shelf for six months. This is something I hadn't thought of because I worked in the bakery where the food is all fresh (save for a few items that are frozen and then thawed before they are sold like naan, pita bread, tortillas, and some brands of bread). But she's right. If you shop at Whole Foods, for pete's sake, buy whole foods. Don't go for the processed stuff. But that goes for all grocery stores, not just Whole Foods. |
