Case Study: Whole Foods Market 2006: Mission, Core Values, and Strategy1. What are the main elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing? Founder John Mackey firmly believed in Whole Foods' mission to be very selective about store inventory, sticking to the company's core values ​​and ensuring customers have an enjoyable and interactive shopping experience, while maintaining the planned strategies that have distinguished from competitors. Store Development and Growth Strategy: Prior to 2002, Whole Foods' expansion strategy involved acquiring smaller, similar chains. The obstacle here was that the acquisitions proved to be very limiting in terms of both square footage and location. Since 2002, Whole Foods has sought to develop and build individual stores to avoid these limitations, allowing the company to operate stores as large as 50,000 square feet. Inventory: Whole Foods also seeks to stock the highest quality and most varieties of fresh foods available, regionally and globally. This is done through careful selection of food suppliers who comply with the highest standards of food production while maintaining a certain degree of environmental and social responsibility in the process. Shopping/Merchandising: Each Whole Foods store maintains a special environment for its customers, such as ambient lighting, natural displays and educational demonstrations, to encourage the shopper to become a repeat customer and even share their experience with friends and family. Store Operations/Incentives: From an internal perspective, Whole Foods uses an operations team-based strategy. Employees are part of a democratic process of selecting new hires, implementing new ideas, and encouraging...... middle of paper ......, John E., Strickland, AJ Thompson, Arthur “Whole Foods Market In 2006: Mission, Core Values, and Strategy”, Crafting & Executing Strategy 15th Ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007http://www.thefreshmarket.com http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com 04 October 2008http://www .downtownnews. com/articles/2007/04/16/news/news01.txt October 4, 2008 http://www.traderjoes.com/tjs_faqs.asp#PublicallyTraded October 4, 2008 http://www.traderjoes.com/locations.asp 4 October 2008 Gamble, John E., Strickland, AJ Thompson, Arthur “The Whole Foods Market in 2006: Mission, Core Values, and Strategy,” Crafting & Executing Strategy 15th Ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007http://www. mindfully.org/ Industry/2007/Whole-Foods-Oats6jun007.htm 04 October 2008http://www.freshandeasy.com/?gclid=CLvB6dfakZYCFQOeFQod5UWXEw 04 October 2008http://www.tesco.com/ 04 October 2008