I have hovered around Whole Foods Market since it was founded by John Mackie in Austin, Texas. I lived nearby. And I was in love with the healthy food, the deli counter (The Martin Brothers), and the hippie crowd that worked there and shopped there. While WFMs community has thinned out a bit since the Amazon aquisition. BUT, the vibe is alive and well.
What’s different about WFM and other grocery stores?
As I’m back in the store, I’m even more aware of how different Whole Foods Market is from all the rest. While I worked at the “other” fancy store in Austin, Central Market, owned by HEB, I wasn’t fully aware why CM didn’t have the same glow. From the early days, WFM was a community that we hippies and hippy-wanna-bees hovered around. We met each other there on the side porch at the first store on Lamar Blvd. We used WFM as a rally point for our lives. CM got good at that idea with their first store, and began to lose the dream by the second store, South, in Austin.
HEB is BIG GROCERY too. And while CM is competing in health food, branding, and upper-class groceries, there’s a different aura. It’s still HEB. It’s still more about the dollar and the transaction.
Walking around WFM, I feel I am rubbing shoulders with my tribe. There is still a lot of work to do to give my store (Bee Cave) the same joy I feel at the mothership. And perhaps there is no way to capture the early days, the pachuli and green smoothies, but Whole Foods Market has a different mood than other grocery stores. Each store is unique, with varying vibes changing greatly due to location or climate.
A few days ago, I showed up for my shift in a Dua Lipa shirt from a recent concert. My manager was wearing the EXACT SAME SHIRT.
My tribe: Dua Day at Whole Foods Market.
The hope I see in others
becomes the hope I have for myself,
my life, and my own journey.
– The Happy Cashier
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