Fewer Profits Eat Into Whole Foods Financial Future
Healthy produce grocery chain Whole Foods could be facing a whole lot of financial woes, reports big drop in shares.
Analysts say the Whole Foods grocery store chain is facing severe financial problems.
When Whole Foods opened a store in midtown Detroit two years ago officials touted it as an oasis of healthy produce in an urban food desert, albeit a fairly expensive oasis.
But analysts say a combination of falling profit margins and slowing sales growth is posing a long-term danger to the grocery store chain.
The company’s shares dropped 10% this week and are down about 30% so far this year.
Whole Foods has been cutting its prices, fighting the perception it’s too expensive. The chain is also opening a series of new, smaller stores targeting younger customers with less pricey products.
But the cost-cutting has hurt Whole Food’s profit margins.
And it faces allegations of price-gouging following last month’s revelation that a Whole Foods store in New York was overcharging customers for some items.
Whole Foods officials blame the problem on human error.
