This is both my favorite store and my favorite company. They have somehow managed to merge mother earth-granola-tofu eater with elegant - snooty - Lexus driver and turn it into a retail food store that defies description. It is a place that makes you feel good about spending lots of money on consumables. I don’t know how else to describe it.
It is an extremely well run company that has managed to prosper despite an economic recession. It is run by hippies, and has a policy that no one, including the CEO, can make more than 15 times the average wage of all employees in the company. This drives Wall Street nuts, so they ignore it for the most part and allows folks like me to make a killing owning their stock. link to chart
I do think the stock is overpriced, but I have felt that way for the last three years while it continued to go up, up, up.
I know that there are other stores that have similar merchandise (Trader Joes), but they just don’t feel the same. Plus, the meat, seafood, and prepared food sections of Whole Foods have to be seen to be believed.