The article addresses that: Whole Foods literally contracted the same people between 2003 and 2007. These stores are like Whole Foods in part because they're de

The article addresses that: Whole Foods literally contracted the same people between 2003 and 2007. These stores are like Whole Foods in part because they're designed by the same people. They also mention Niemann's relationship with the Whole Foods CEO pre-sale, and how Niemann didn't believe WF was doing enough to lower prices. Then the recession hit and Whole Foods nearly went out of business. The anti-amazon part isn't in the design (as already said, the design predates the Amazon acquisition); its in the supermarket's direct relationship with local suppliers.