Amazon! Bring it on! What a joy it will be for my family to have Whole Food Dinners every night. Where do I sign up? I am thrilled. Good Luck to both Amazon and Whole Foods. We are the beneficiaries of this great deal.
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I think the purchase of Whole Foods will enable Amazon to rapidly roll out their mobile-device self check-out technology and leverage their distribution logistics.
As a farmer I do worry about the corporate influence in the food system. Our farms are so efficient and productive already; the human laborer will be the next thing trimmed out. You can bet a tech giant like Amazon will first acquire the retail market, then vertically integrate and highly automate the food production.
Ever day I wonder how rural America will reshape itself as the farm, retail and manufacturing laborers go the way of the horse. Thanks for a thought-provoking article.
As a farmer I do worry about the corporate influence in the food system. Our farms are so efficient and productive already; the human laborer will be the next thing trimmed out. You can bet a tech giant like Amazon will first acquire the retail market, then vertically integrate and highly automate the food production.
Ever day I wonder how rural America will reshape itself as the farm, retail and manufacturing laborers go the way of the horse. Thanks for a thought-provoking article.
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A "conglomerate" no a "trust " 1900's style Amazon has one goal, hold multiply markets control commerce and then act like the robber barons of old, where is Teddy Roosevelt we need him.
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just wondering....did he place the purchase using Alexa?
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Conglomerates were about diversification in the name of mitigating risk. Sort of like buying an index fund. Amazon's acquisition of WF has nothing to do with diversification. On the contrary, Amazon is leveraging two core competencies: the most efficient material logistics operation in the world, and its ability to extract value from its knowledge of its customers. Now we know why Sorkin is a journalist and not a banker.
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Bankers don't tell stories or reveal information.Reporters give us a starting point.They also change the world by changing perceptions.Thanks for the interesting piece
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But, which material and which bank, are the Best in the World? Amazon and Bezos and Whole Foods are not in "the Best League". The acquisition of Whole Foods is just "more of the same lower level league". Now it's just bigger, but not more valuable. Doesn't even have the Best Bank for accounting. Bezos, good luck with your accountants.
I always believed in conglomerates, ever since I worked for W.R. Grace & Co., although conglomerates subsequently fell out of favor.
As Khan observed, it is the platform, or having a platform. It is having the ability to build a platform and having a management team in place to manage the portfolio companies in a centralized/decentralized manner.
As Khan observed, it is the platform, or having a platform. It is having the ability to build a platform and having a management team in place to manage the portfolio companies in a centralized/decentralized manner.
But, building a platform that is already on, dependent on, someone else's platform is not very wise. I suppose Bezos and "his stuff" are on track to be consumed by the "original platform". Lesson to be learned: Don't go for margin, go for originality. It is like the Farmer who is farming on someone else's land, in the first place.
Do you remember Priceline.com in the early 2000's? They thought their model could be applied to anything, even groceries, and they had the Midas touch.
The headline should REALLY read:
"Monopolies (or monopoly-wannabes) don't die"!
Standard Oil, Morgan Bank, Amazon, Google...
there's really NO difference in their mind-sets, motivations, or out-of-control lawless egomaniacs at the helm!
Bezos is just a John D Rockefeller or JP Morgan wannabe! Without even a tinge of their (however twisted) sense of noblesse oblige. All the likes of Bezos and Kalanick cares about is THEIR OWN money and power!
"Malefactors of great wealth," as TR termed them!
"Monopolies (or monopoly-wannabes) don't die"!
Standard Oil, Morgan Bank, Amazon, Google...
there's really NO difference in their mind-sets, motivations, or out-of-control lawless egomaniacs at the helm!
Bezos is just a John D Rockefeller or JP Morgan wannabe! Without even a tinge of their (however twisted) sense of noblesse oblige. All the likes of Bezos and Kalanick cares about is THEIR OWN money and power!
"Malefactors of great wealth," as TR termed them!
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Amazon's first move was to kill-off Border's, a first rate bookstore. Now we get the lowest common denominator of books, the best sellers. Best sellers aren't necessarily bad books, but they were made best sellers by marketers. Try finding a real science of history book to page through before buying anywhere today. The logical extension of the Amazonization of American businesses is that everything will be the lowest common denominator, whatever the marketer's choose- bud light, network TV, pickup trucks, audiobooks, etc. This trend has been going on for some time now and will only get worse here. You have to get out of the US to see what a diversity of products still looks like.
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Hi djl--- I don't think you will have to go out of the USA to find something more than "the lowest common denominator". You mention "diversity of products". How about: "University of products". For example, the bookstore is still at the University. Academics, not Amazon, are in charge of that bookstore. I suppose the University "takes over the Street" as opposed to the Street "taking over the University". Amazon and Bezos are a part of the Street. I see the Higher Education Sector winning "all over the World".
You mean to tell me that Amazon has LESS selection than your average Borders Bookstore had?
I think the opposite argument is much easier to make. Amazon provides access to a "long-tail" of selection that a brick and mortar bookstore could never provide.
I think the opposite argument is much easier to make. Amazon provides access to a "long-tail" of selection that a brick and mortar bookstore could never provide.
It's hard to see how how the antitrust alarms have been rung so loudly at this early stage, when we don't even know yet what use Bezos plans to make of the Whole Foods business. We'd do well to remember that Bezos has now purchased 435 fixed cost centers in the form of brick-and-mortar locations. It is these types of fixed costs that are currently killing Walmart's profit margins.
It's quite a leap to presume that Amazon's simple acquisition of Whole Foods is now poised to put Walmart out of business. Walmart was well on its way to ending up in a Sears-type meltdown long before Bezos came along. The question for Walmart is how to relieve itself of the noose of thousands of brick-and-mortar stores. Its stores are unfortunately too numerous and customized to unload on other retailers, with the exception of sporting goods or home improvements retailers. But those markets are not big enough to absorb even 10 percent of Walmart's real estate. Walmart's in real trouble, and given that it employs 1 in every 200 Americans, it would likely need a government bailout of some kind if it were to close its doors.
It's quite a leap to presume that Amazon's simple acquisition of Whole Foods is now poised to put Walmart out of business. Walmart was well on its way to ending up in a Sears-type meltdown long before Bezos came along. The question for Walmart is how to relieve itself of the noose of thousands of brick-and-mortar stores. Its stores are unfortunately too numerous and customized to unload on other retailers, with the exception of sporting goods or home improvements retailers. But those markets are not big enough to absorb even 10 percent of Walmart's real estate. Walmart's in real trouble, and given that it employs 1 in every 200 Americans, it would likely need a government bailout of some kind if it were to close its doors.
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Let's keep in mind that 20 years ago, the alarm bells were ringing that Walmart was wiping family owned retail businesses from coast to coast. Walmart used a more modern business model that took advantage of both scale and the global manufacturing base, in ways that the little guy could never keep up with.
Walmart may well be in trouble, but it is because it stood its ground in the low end market, happily collecting many nickels as it squeezed other retailers to death. Well, the low end market is a great place to be until you meet a competitor that can out dance you there. And then you have nothing to fall back on, because your brand was always about low margins.
Walmart may well be in trouble, but it is because it stood its ground in the low end market, happily collecting many nickels as it squeezed other retailers to death. Well, the low end market is a great place to be until you meet a competitor that can out dance you there. And then you have nothing to fall back on, because your brand was always about low margins.
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