Stefan wrote:JG Pasterjak wrote: Best got take I've heard so far: "Amazon just spend $13.7billion to buy Whole Foods. For that they got two half-gallons of almond milk and a bag of organic kale."Bezos: "Alexa, buy me something from Whole Foods." Alexa: "Buying Whole Foods." Bezos: "E36 M3."
I'm recovering from a really painful injury right now, and did not need to laugh that hard. THANKS-FOR-NOTH-OWWIE-OWWIE-OW!
wvumtnbkr wrote:z31maniac wrote: Meh, some of us are willing to pay higher prices for higher quality. They actually pay there employees a halfway decent wage, news flash that also contributes to higher prices. In 2013 their avg employee pay was approaching $19/hr.Holy crap. 19 bucks per hour with no education and no real skills required. No wonder it is soo expensive! Unless that counts benefits too.
That's a hell of a lot more than I'm currently making.
If you look at this move in the context of CEO Jeff Bezos' space startup Blue Origin, it's safe to say we can expect sub-orbital intercontinental grocery delivery within this decade.
Stefan wrote:JG Pasterjak wrote: Best got take I've heard so far: "Amazon just spend $13.7billion to buy Whole Foods. For that they got two half-gallons of almond milk and a bag of organic kale."Bezos: "Alexa, buy me something from Whole Foods." Alexa: "Buying Whole Foods." Bezos: "E36 M3."
Dang. You made me snort-laugh while eating tacos. My sinuses haven't been so clean in weeks. ow, ow, ow!
Stefan wrote:JG Pasterjak wrote: Best got take I've heard so far: "Amazon just spend $13.7billion to buy Whole Foods. For that they got two half-gallons of almond milk and a bag of organic kale."Bezos: "Alexa, buy me something from Whole Foods." Alexa: "Buying Whole Foods." Bezos: "E36 M3."
New leader here.
In reply to JG Pasterjak:
I can't take credit, I stole it from the twitter, but I thought it was hilarious and should be enjoyed by all.
In reply to Stefan:
It was sure funny no matter where you first heard it.
Yeah, I think Whole Foods treats their employees a bit better than Amazon does, at least the ones that work outside corporate offices. This will be interesting to see how it plays out financially, but it doesn't seem like a real smart move on Bezos' part, but he is the billionaire and I am not.
In reply to Basil Exposition:
A six pack of 'Simpler Times' Lager. $3.99 +tax . 6.2% abv and decent tasting. Trader Joes own little six pack yogurt cups with two flavors to each six pack. Milk and eggs are about Giant/Safeway pricing. That's about it. Their brethren Aldis is probably the cheapest outright but there's always Walmart too. Interesting fellow the founder of Whole Foods. 
In reply to BoxheadTim:
America is apparently the only market the two Aldis effectively compete against each other albeit indirectly.
I worked at WF for a while after college. It's not $19, but closer to $10-12. Shift managers, leads, and skilled chefs make $19-22ish, but it's not extraordinary. Depending on the market, they source a lot of produce and meats locally which is appealing if you're into that scene. I can't say that I've ever found their products astronomically more expensive than comparable chains and it's clear where that extra couple bucks goes.
I like trader Joe's. Sometimes they sneak neat stuff in there. Their charcuterie is pretty solid too. The only time I've seen jamon iberico was at T.J.
Whole foods....last time i was there there was this slinky brunette handing out watermelon juice wearing a green skintight unitard. Juice tasted like E36 M3, but I went back for seconds. Also, sometimes I get good recipe ideas from them.
RossD wrote: <blockquot
Maybe I'm naive, but why is Amazon evil?
There are two local "Fulfillment" warehouses. I got the skinny from some guys who worked there. These two guys had been there a while, and they said new employees generally lasted 13 days on average, or something equally obscene. 1/2 hour lines, off the clock, on the way in, and out- to go through a search.
The above is, of course, hearsay, and should be taken with a grain of salt. There do seem to be jobs constantly advertised.
Unrelated note: A friend of a friend apparently ordered a six pack of cold coca cola delivered, and had it in a couple of hours. Society has officially fallen.
wheelsmithy wrote:RossD wrote: <blockquotMaybe I'm naive, but why is Amazon evil?
Unrelated note: A friend of a friend apparently ordered a six pack of cold coca cola delivered, and had it in a couple of hours. Society has officially fallen.
Well that depends, is it the standard issue corn syrup Coca-Cola or the Latin market stuff with real cane sugar?
I don't use Amazon very often. Last night I ordered 3 different items on the Internet. I checked Amazon and then some other places. Bought all 3 from other places. In two cases the price was cheaper than Amazon for the same item. On the other, the price was the same but the shipping was cheaper and they didn't charge sales tax.
As for Whole Foods, way too expensive for me!!
Only reason I used whole foods is they serve a great ramen at a really good price. its big enough for 2 servings and its like $9.
Will be interesting to see what happens to all of the Austin whole food offices. Since it was born here, they have a large amount of support staff in town.
I dislike Whole Foods. Overpriced. Seems to be paying for gimmick and story rather than actual quality. Produce is consistently less fresh than at Kroger. They do have some nice selection if you want really high end specialty stuff like fancy cheese.
Costco has both higher starting pay than Whole Foods ($11.50 > $11.00) and higher average pay ($21.00 > $18.90).
Whole Foods turns me into an shiny happy person laughing at some of the buzzword-gimmick foods and the people buying them. You know "high alkalinity water", "organic salt", "gluten free milk", etc.
wheelsmithy wrote:RossD wrote: <blockquotMaybe I'm naive, but why is Amazon evil?
There are two local "Fulfillment" warehouses. I got the skinny from some guys who worked there. These two guys had been there a while, and they said new employees generally lasted 13 days on average, or something equally obscene. 1/2 hour lines, off the clock, on the way in, and out- to go through a search.
The above is, of course, hearsay, and should be taken with a grain of salt. There do seem to be jobs constantly advertised.
Unrelated note: A friend of a friend apparently ordered a six pack of cold coca cola delivered, and had it in a couple of hours. Society has officially fallen.
The Supreme Court ruled that workers didn't have to be paid for waiting for security searches based on lawsuits brought by Amazon temp workers.
In reply to Basil Exposition: I'm not saying what they do is illegal, just sucks to have an hour of your life taken away, and not being reimbursed for it.
T.J. wrote: I wonder how this ties in with Amazon offering discounted Prime memberships to those on food stamps.
The BERK!?!?
wheelsmithy wrote: In reply to Basil Exposition: I'm not saying what they do is illegal, just sucks to have an hour of your life taken away, and not being reimbursed for it.
Oh, I agree. A not-evil company would pay those folks or try to speed up the process, regardless of the legalities. Not to mention taking the time and expense of going all the way to the Supreme Court to defend the practice. Complicating this is that it wasn't Amazon, but a temp agency they hired. Of course, Amazon has the power to make the temp agency do what Amazon wants.
Appleseed wrote:T.J. wrote: I wonder how this ties in with Amazon offering discounted Prime memberships to those on food stamps.The BERK!?!?
Yea, one of the new features that came with "prime reload". They're going to start offering s rather substantial discount for members with food stamps.
Prime reload itself ties Amazon to your bank account, and gives you a 2% "boost" for money you transfer to your Amazon account from your bank account. Gets them out of paying credit card usage fees, and makes them look good by offering a "deposit bonus" for less than average credit card transaction fees were choosing them(2.5%).
As for evil... Anyone who buys a newspaper then within a week takes on a shady government contract for almost 3 times what they paid for the paper should raise eyebrows and suspicion. Particularly when the agency in question has a reputation for ignoring privacy laws and the newspaper owning company also sells microphones to put in your house.
Maybe I'm tin foil hatting the whole thing, but on paper it looks evil and suspicious as all berkeley.maybe not the same level of evil as Wal-Mart or Disney, but evil is evil.
At least I can get my asparagus water delivered to me by drone .
Zomby Woof wrote:RossD wrote: Maybe I'm naive, but why is Amazon evil?Because they're number one, and people will think of (and make up) all kinds of interesting reasons to hate number one. See also: Walmart.
RevRico wrote: Maybe I'm tin foil hatting the whole thing, but on paper it looks evil and suspicious as all berkeley.maybe not the same level of evil as Wal-Mart or Disney, but evil is evil.
L.O.L.
Basil Exposition wrote:Of course, Amazon has the power to make the temp agency do what Amazon wants.
Temp Agencies, and independent contractors working for the huge mega companies. There is a rant for another day. Kind of hard to not hate on stuff right now.
Hi. I worked at Amazon corporate for a few years and spent time in Amazon fresh launching delivery food service for a few cities. Ask me anything
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