The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
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Mackey: Animal rights activists' accusations against Whole Foods were fundamentally correct
“That the accusations that the animal rights people had made about what we were doing were fundamentally correct.”
Whole Foods Went Public in 1992 to Prevent VCs Taking Control
“Yeah, but venture capitalists didn't want us to go public. They wanted us to do another round of venture financing, but I was determined not to do another round of venture financing because that would have given them control of the company, and I just didn't t…”
Mackey: Whole Foods created much of US demand for organic food
“I mean, we didn't do it by ourselves, obviously, but because you have farmers, but we created much of the demand for natural and organic in the United States.”
Co-founders required selling meat and alcohol to form Whole Foods
“One of the Craig's and Mark's conditions is we have to make this a real store. We have to sell meat, and we have to sell beer and wine, and we have to sell coffee. We can't just be completely a vegetarian idealistic store.”
Mackey: Whole Foods Reopened 30 Days Post-Flood with Free Labor and Loans
“There was a benefit held for the store, and the team members, they worked for free. Our bank loaned us money, On my signature, which was worthless. And the investors decided to kick in more cash. So we were able to reopen 30 days later.”
Mackey: South Austin store cannibalized original Whole Foods and caused losses
“That store was too close to our original store and cannibalized it significantly. And together, we started to lose money.”
Mackey: Whole Foods Sold 34% of Business at $8.5M Valuation in 1988
“We sold 34% of the business for an eight and a half million dollar valuation.”
Mackey: Whole Foods holds about 1.5% to 2% of US grocery market
“I think it's about one and a half to two percent.”
Mackey Launched SaferWay With $45,000, Including $10,000 Borrowed From Father
“We thought we needed 50,000 dollars to start the store, and we can only come up with 45, but we decided we could make do with it. And my initial stake was 10,000 dollars. That's the most I ever owned of the company, and 10 of the 45,000, and I borrowed all of …”
Co-Founders Required Selling Meat and Alcohol to Merge With Mackey
“One of the Craig's and Mark's conditions is we have to make this a real store. We have to sell meat, and we have to sell beer and wine, and we have to sell coffee. We can't just be completely a vegetarian idealistic store.”
Whole Foods Reopened 30 Days After 1981 Flood With Stakeholder Support
“There was a benefit held for the store, and the team members, they worked for free. Our bank loaned us money. On my signature, which was worthless. And the investors decided to kick in more cash. So we were able to reopen 30 days later.”
VC Who Passed on Whole Foods Later Called It Worst Decision
“Yeah, he apologized to me about 10 years later, said it was the worst decision he ever made.”
Whole Foods Sold 34% at an $8.5 Million Valuation in 1980s
“We sold 34% of the business for an eight and a half million dollar valuation. So about eight times our earnings or about I don't know, 20%, 15% of our sales.”
Mackey: Whole Foods predecessor SaferWay launched with $45,000 in seed capital
“We thought we needed 50,000 dollars to start the store, and we could only come up with 45, but we decided we could make do with it. And my initial stake was 10,000 dollars. That's the most I ever owned of the company, and 10 of the 45,000, and I borrowed all o…”
Mackey: SaferWay lost $23,000 of its $45,000 initial capital in year one
“We actually lost half of it in the first year. We lost 23,000 dollars the first year.”
Mackey: SaferWay reached profitability in year two with a $5,000 profit
“And we did make a small 5000 dollar profit in our second year.”
Mackey: First Whole Foods opened with zero advertising
“We didn't do any advertising. We just opened the doors, but the word of mouth was incredible. The whole Austin kind of counterculture hippie community knew about it immediately.”
Mackey: Whole Foods was hit by a 100-year flood in May 1981
“Like nine months after we opened, this is now in May of 1981, Austin had the worst flood that it had had in about a hundred years. And our store was located in the hundred year floodplain.”
Mackey: Whole Foods went public in 1992 raising about $28 million
“We did go public back in 1992, and we raised about twenty eight million dollars.”
Mackey: Whole Foods was valued at about $100M at IPO
“Overnight we were worth about a hundred million when we went public.”
Mackey Accumulated 120 Hours of Electives Instead of Finishing College Degree
“So I ended up with a 120 hours of electives that were just courses I was interested in.”
Mackey's Mother Urged Him on Her Deathbed to Leave Grocery Business
“The very last conversation I ever had with my mother in 1987 was on her deathbed, and she asked me to go back to school and make something of myself, and I was a grocer, I was a hippie grocer, and I, she said, you know, you have a fine mind, John, why are you …”
Mackey's First Store SaferWay Refused to Sell Sugar or Meat
“We didn't sell sugar. We didn't sell meat. We were selling real foods. We were selling bulk foods and produce”
Mackey's First Store SaferWay Lost $23,000 in Its First Year
“We actually lost half of it in the first year. We lost 23,000 dollars the first year.”
Mackey Claims First Whole Foods Store Was Successful by 3 PM
“And the store was an immediate success. People sometimes ask, how long did it take the first Whole Foods Market to be successful? And the answer, true answer is, it took till about three o'clock in the afternoon on the first day.”
Whole Foods Launched Its Original Store Without Any Advertising
“And we didn't do any advertising. We just opened the doors, but the word of mouth was incredible. The whole Austin kind of counterculture hippie community Knew about it immediately.”
Original Whole Foods Store Was Devastated by 1981 Austin Flood
“Like nine months after we opened, this is now in May of 1981, Austin had the worst flood that it had had in about a hundred years, and our store was located in the hundred year floodplain.”