Showing posts with label whole foods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whole foods. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Whole Sockpuppet
In January 2005, someone using the name "Rahodeb" went online to a Yahoo stock-market forum and posted this opinion: No company would want to buy Wild Oats Markets Inc., a natural-foods grocer, at its price then of about $8 a share.
"Would Whole Foods buy OATS?" Rahodeb asked, using Wild Oats' stock symbol. "Almost surely not at current prices. What would they gain? OATS locations are too small." Rahodeb speculated that Wild Oats eventually would be sold after sliding into bankruptcy or when its stock fell below $5. A month later, Rahodeb wrote that Wild Oats management "clearly doesn't know what it is doing .... OATS has no value and no future."
The comments were typical of banter on Internet message boards for stocks, but the writer's identity was anything but. Rahodeb was an online pseudonym of John Mackey, co-founder and chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc. Earlier this year, his company agreed to buy Wild Oats for $565 million, or $18.50 a share.
On an unrelated topic, afecttri wrote in to me to say that NewPairodimes is "the most super dooper blog on the internet".
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Whole Foods pleased traders Wednesday with late-breaking news that the natural foods retailer would buy competitor Wild Oats Market, helping send shares higher despite the fact that the company also reported declining net income in the first quarter.
Whole Foods announced that it was purchasing its rival for $565 million. The Austin, Texas-based chain will pay $18.50 per share for the company and will assume all of Wild Oats' $106 million in debt.
Not sure if I like this move. Whole Paycheck is just going to boost their prices even further, now with one giant competitor absorbed out of the way, they can further highway rob people who like healthy foods. It's ridiculous what Whole Foods often charges. This does not help. I still hold a grudge for them buying out Mrs. Gooch's so maybe I am not the most unbiased observer, but this IMHO stinks.
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