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New Frontiers sells to Whole Foods

April 1, 2014

New FrontiersNew Frontiers Natural Marketplace has sold four of its five stores, including its San Luis Obispo location, to Whole Foods Market. [Supermarket News]

Each of the stores sold will convert to Whole Foods markets in a few weeks. As part of the transaction, Whole Foods agreed to offer jobs to all of the employees at the New Frontiers locations that the company purchased.

New Frontiers President Jonathan King said he had long considered merging with Whole Foods.

“Over the years, when I have at times wondered if our stores would someday merge with a larger strategic partner, Whole Foods Market has always been my premier choice,” King said. “We know they will provide growth opportunities for our exceptional team members, and continue to bring retail excellence and outstanding service to our local communities.”

Whole Foods acquired New Frontiers’s three Arizona locations, in addition to the San Luis Obispo store. The lone remaining New Frontiers market is located in Solvang, where the company headquarters sit.

 


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It does not have to be expensive to eat healthy you just have to want it…and in there lies the problem. Where is my 1/4 lb with cheese?


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Whole Food…not Half Food….It’s what it’s all about.

After all, this is how Euell Gibbon’s first started out

Environmental wannabees arriving in their SUV’s

Demanding no more GMO’s to grow their corn and peas

While cloth bags adorn their carts, for everyone to see

Chalk full of organic stuff, including expensive Brie

New Frontiers, has come and gone, never more to be

It’s Whole Foods now, the place to go and see and be seen.


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So put on your yoga pants, and come shop for machine-tumbled baby carrots with us!


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lol


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I haven’t been into New Frontiers for quite awhile, but it will be interesting to see how the current employees adapt to the Whole Foods way of doing things. When I travel for business, usually in two week intervals, I do look for markets that offer a variety of fresh veggies and fruits that are not overly processed or sprayed with all sorts of chemicals; Whole Foods does have a fairly large number of stores which equates into a better chance of finding them more often in unfamiliar areas. The trick to shopping there and not spending a huge amount of money is to follow the old adage about “shopping the perimeter” and avoiding the interior aisles. Most of the individual departments like produce, meat and dairy are along the outside edge of most grocery stores/supermarkets, and the interior aisles are where the dry grocery items which have a higher price and are usually the more processed types of food. By avoiding purchasing large amounts of the processed foods and concentrating on the fresh stuff and fixing your own meals, you can avoid spending more than you intended to, and usually end up with better-for-you food as well.


My point about the employees of New Frontiers is directed at the attitude I have witnessed on occasion where the employee just didn’t seem interested in helping customers find items they are looking for and sometimes weren’t as friendly as they could be; my experiences in most Whole Food Markets is that the employees actually like to be there and want to make your shopping experience better.


And for avoiding spending too much at Whole Foods, the other departments to avoid are the hot prepared foods; it is very convenient but very expensive to shop those departments.


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Maybe it’s because I ride a motorcycle and would walk into New Frontiers with my boots and gear on instead of mincing in with Birkenstocks, but I perceived a bit of attitude there many times and was once pretty insulted by serious attitude by one of their employees when i tried to return a defective product; I don’t need that kind of crap and avoid the place .( In a word: snooty.)


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You would have been better received if you would have flashed your “Festival Mosaic” cloth grocery bag while wearing a “Concerts in the Plaza” cap. ;)


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It doesn’t matter they’re both totally expensive. People don’t buy as much as they say in the Santa Barbara Whole Foods store, people claim their prices are too high.


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http://hardknock.tv/whole-foods-parking-lot-hilarious-video/


I’d love it if a Whole Foods opened up shop near me.


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So, New Price Frontiers becomes Whole Paycheck… I don’t see a lot of difference….


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miss foods for the family


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Foods For the Rich? Never missed ’em; try the San Luis Co-Op for real food at a fair price!


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I also miss Foods for the Family.

Quality foods and friendly & knowledgeable staff.


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always clean and smelled that way.


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Making your business model growth through financing instead of profits (unsustainable) with the predetermined goal of selling off to a larger corporation shows a lack of integrity. “Screw the communities this corporation will suck the profits out of, I GOT MINE!” But it is only possible because we have no more free market, and the larger corporations with their tax games and political maneuverings are flush with cash and they will make you semi-rich if you are willing to sell your soul. Can anyone say Copelands?


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You are so right we should pass a law that requires people who invest their time and money and ingenuity into a business to be forced to hold on to the business forever and not be allowed to sell no matter what, because after all it is all about what is good for the people who are not very smart, don’t work very hard and have no desire to create their own business.


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Yea.


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Those stores prove that at least some people have money to burn now a days.


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We should all be eating soylent green, or what?


We all have money to burn. On single malt scotch, or any transportation other than a bus pass, or living in a house instead of a dorm.


I think what you mean is that it’s a little flagrant to spend $3 on a head of lettuce that could be bought for $1.50.


But so what? Them shopping there keeps the lines short at Food For Less for you and me. Why the attitude?


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What’s so flagrant about wanting to spend your hard earned money on food (things) that are natural and a healthier choice for our bodies?

You spend yours on your scotch and what ever, let those of us who chose good, clean, organic enjoy our choices as well.

Not so sure Whole Foods is the answer, but it’s nice to have a little peace in the food choices I make not being covered with pesticides or filled with GMO garbage.


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I prefer to spend my money on healthy food rather than video games, cell phones, ipads, apps and a variety of other useless things. Do you know why food for less food is so much cheaper, you should.


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My post was more about the disappearing middle class and the divide between the rich and the poor that gets larger every day. I don’t really care where anyone shops. Most of what I don’t catch,grow, or raise comes from Talley Farms Fresh Harvest or Costco. http://talleyfarmsfreshharvest.com/


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