I dont know how they pulled off the Wild Oats [1] [2] acquisition years ago - or if things were just as bad back then, because I didn't shop at Whole Foods in those years.

But I wish we had a greater array of upmarket or upmarket-adjacent stores that carried fresh & nutritious offerings that you didnt have to label-check twice before buying.

There must be something fundamentally wrong with grocery store margins in the US ( or just in California ) that no one seems to be able to make a buck consistently to keep standards high.

I hear great things about Wegmans & they've been forever in the mid-Atlantic states. Its telling they havent chosen to set up shop in California despite plentiful metro areas that could support such fare.

I never really thought very expensive California real estate markets would be the places for future food deserts but we're nearly there.

[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Oats_Markets

[2]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wholefoods-ftc/whole-food...