SWOT ANALYSIS ON Whole Foods Market

abhishreshthaa

Abhijeet S
SWOT ANALYSIS ON Whole Foods Market : Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFMI) is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas which emphasizes "natural" and organic products. As of September 2009[update], the company operates 302 stores: 291 stores in 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia; six stores in Canada; and five stores in the United Kingdom.

The company is consistently ranked among the most socially responsible businesses[5] and placed third on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of Top 25 Green Power Partners.


In 1978, 25-year-old college dropout John Mackey and his 21-year-old girlfriend Rene Lawson, borrowed $45,000 from family and friends to open a small natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin, Texas (the name being a spoof of Safeway). When the couple was evicted from their apartment for storing food products in it, they decided to live at the store. Because it was zoned for commercial use, there was no shower stall, so they bathed using a water hose attached to their dishwasher.

Two years later, John Mackey partnered with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles to merge SaferWay with their Clarksville Natural Grocery, resulting in the opening of the original Whole Foods Market on September 20, 1980. At 12,500 square feet (1,160 m2) and with a staff of 19, the store was quite large in comparison to the standard health food store of the time.


Strengths

* Cost advantage
* Asset
* Effective communication
* High R&D
* Innovation
* Online growth
* Loyal customers
* Market share leadership
* Strong management team
* Strong brand equity
* Strong financial position
* Supply chain
* Pricing
* Real estate
* Reputation management
* Unique products

Weaknesses

* Bad communication
* Diseconomies to scale
* Over leveraged fiancial position
* Low R&D
* Low market share
* No online presence
* Not innovative
* Not diversified
* Poor supply chain
* Weak management team
* Weak real estate
* Weak, damaged brand
* Ubiquitiouegory, products, services

Opportunities

* Acquisitions
* Asset leverage
* Financial markets (raise money through debt, etc)
* Emerging markets and expansion abroad
* Innovation
* Online
* Product and services expansion
* Takeovers

Threats

* Competition
* Cheaper technology
* Economic slowdown
* External changes (government, politics, taxes, etc)
* Exchange rate fluctuations
* Lower cost competitors or imports
* Maturing categories, products, or services
* Price wars
* Product substitution
 
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