WFM taught people to value quality and a food shopping experience. The quality has improved in absolute terms. However, in relative terms, other national chai

WFM taught people to value quality and a food shopping experience. The quality has improved in absolute terms. However, in relative terms, other national chains started adding up-market stores and gourmet product selections in regular stores, dampening WFM's differentiation. To challenge another of your assumptions, though WFM does well with households with >$100K, it also does well with other income brackets including "working class." [0] WFM targets specific customers in all demographics. WFM's prices aren't necessarily higher, and you can certainly overspend at a Safeway. Also, notice how Safeway has high affinity with WFM. [0] http://infoscout.co/retailer/whole_foods http://infoscout.co/retailer/whole_foods