NYTimes article- Whole Foods

Interesting article in the New York Times today about Whole Foods
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/dining/28whole.html?_r=1&ref=dining?8dpc&oref=slogin

Welcome

Hello out there....at this point that probably means hello to the two people who know about this blog. Regardless. Allow me to introduce myself--Grocery Girl. I'm a graduate student in public health with a passion for grocery stores. As a child, I remember loving tagging along on my mother's weekly grocery trip and trying to sneak new products in her cart. Ever since my 9th grade foray into baking fat free muffins and tofu brownies for my year-end class project, I have been obsessed with trying to create new food products (I'm still convinced I'm going to be the next "Mrs. Fields"). This led me to start looking at grocery stores analytically--what new products last, what combinations of products people buy, what marketing strategies are effective etc. During high school and college as a varsity track athlete I would often find myself with whole days to kill on road trips before evening races. While my teammates watched re-runs of bad sitcoms in the hotel, I would often wander over to nearby shopping plazas and take leisurely inventory of the local grocery landscape. At the end of college I cleaned out my wallet and found close to a dozen "frequent shopper" cards acquired during these road trips. After graduating I worked for several years in financial research, the high point of which was getting to follow supermarket financials and retail trends--at one point, my boss and I went on a tour of WEGMANS (the best large supermarket ever). This was almost enough to make up for the tedium that was the other 90% of my job. After putting my time in and saving some money, I applied for graduate school and am now happily taking classes towards a masters degree in public health. My specific interest is in consumer behavior and grocery stores and I'm doing some research in that area in conjunction with my classes. This blog, however, is not meant to be academic-- I just wanted to explain how I came to my passion for grocery stores. Over the next year I'm going to be traveling a lot and whether abroad or at home, I intend on positing my reflections on my multiple weekly visits to assorted grocery stores, specialty food shops, farmers markets etc.--any place where food is sold for later consumption. I'm sure I'll also feel compelled to write about what tasty creations result from these store visits! Enjoy :)