Value Chain Analysis Whole Foods

Whole Foods 365 stores were a product introduced by Whole Foods Market in 2015 when Jeff Turnas, president of the 365 store chain, announced that the organic food giant would soon launch the stores. Turnas’ vision for the 365 stores was “a new innovation to help meet the exploding demand for more natural and organic foods: a smaller-store concept where value meets quality… We'll work up a modern, consistent design, use innovative technology and carefully choose just the right product mix to ensure an efficient and rewarding shopping experience.” (Turnas 2015). Turnas’ goal was to create a path for grocery shoppers, particularly the millennial generation, that aligns with their mastery of and reliance on technology to streamline their daily

As such, 365 stores aim to create the lean principle of value by improving the value stream principle. Value would be created by a lower price-point, and the value stream to the consumer is improved by creating a more enjoyable and leaner, more customized shopping experience. In order to facilitate the action of building and expanding upon the brand, Whole Foods is tasked with carrying out several foundational steps in order to open a new 365 store and fulfill the ideas set forth by the announced product launch. From the announcement of the 365 store concept in May 2015, Whole Foods was able to construct its first 365 store in Silver Lake, CA in roughly one year’s time. Within the same year 2016, Whole Foods opened two other locations in Bellevue, WA and Portland, OR. Currently, four

The company must go through the process of surveying land, acquiring permits, buying land, constructing facilities, meeting staffing needs for opening, and assuring that channels of distribution are set on the right course for timing purposes. In addition to the Kanban production approach that facilitates a First in First out customer pull system at the supermarket, the introduction of a new 365 store would require even further lean management. One way to ensure that loss is mitigated in the development of a new grocery store is to appoint the appropriate project overseers by region instead of by state or location. Depending on the needs of one region over another in their respective stages of 365 store development, these supervisors will be tasked with assisting one another as a collaborative unit. Each of these supervisors will report into one nationwide controller and director of store development. The director/controller will be tasked with buying the land, communicating store plans to the supervisors and seeing each opening through from start to finish. By making the development decision-making staff lean, the goal is less likely to get lost among the group, a team mentality to the expansion of the 365 brand stores emerges, and less is spent on the facilitation of the projects, saving money from state to state that can be used for marketing and construction purposes. Furthermore,