Amazon to finalize acquisition of Whole Foods on Monday, with discounts to come
Amazon will finalize its acquisition of the Whole Foods grocery company Monday, with customers to see discounts on Whole Foods staples after Amazon officially closes the deal. Amazon Prime members will further receive "special savings and in-store benefits," the company writes, after Prime becomes integrated as the customer reward program at Whole Foods stores.
Jeff Wilke, the CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, said in a statement: "We're determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone. Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality — we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Market's long-held commitment to the highest standards."
Amazon agreed to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in early June. "[B]uying Whole Foods would instantaneously and massively expand Amazon's capacities in the grocery business," Jeff Spross writes at The Week, "and bring us that much closer to a world where the groceries come to us, rather than vice versa." Jeva Lange
The Week
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Editor's note: The headline of this post originally mischaracterized the benefits Amazon Prime members would receive on Whole Foods products. This post also originally misstated when Amazon purchased Whole Foods, as well as the nature of the Prime discounts. It has since been corrected. We regret the errors.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.