No plans for more Whole Foods 365 stores

Whole Foods announced last month that the company will not open any more Whole Foods 365 stores, but the 12 existing stores will remain in business.

The smaller 365 stores were launched in 2016 and featured Whole Foods private-label products in an attempt to lure customers who wanted to avoid the full-sized stores, also known at the time as "whole paycheck." However, since Amazon's acquisition of the company, many of the same private-label brands have become available in the regular stores.

Whole Foods CEO finds Amazon culture "challenging"

A Forbes story last month reported that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is struggling with the Amazon culture, describing it as "challenging" in a recent speech. Mackey announced that he has scheduled a retreat to help him and other top Whole Foods executives better align with Amazon's "higher purpose."

In a short period of time, Mackey has seen Amazon close one of the five newly opened Whole Foods 365 stores, and the four others have seemed to stall. The 365 concept was Mackey's attempt to attract shoppers and dispel the "Whole Paycheck" image. According to reports, the stores did neither.

Amazon's plan, according to CEO Jeff Bezos, is to lower prices throughout the entire Whole Foods chain, not just at the smaller format stores.

A recent survey by ChargeItSpot, which owns cellphone charging stations, revealed that 62% of shoppers were more likely to shop at Whole Foods now that it has been acquired by Amazon, and 84% had positive feelings about the merger.