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Report: Amazon rapidly implementing operation changes at Whole Foods

A Whole Foods store in downtown Denver, Colorado.
A Whole Foods store in downtown Denver, Colorado. Photo: John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images

A year after its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon has implemented changes among its high-level executive leadership team and store operation as part of a broader effort to reinvent the way consumers shop in stores, CNBC reports.

Yes, but: Axios' Business Editor Dan Primack says Amazon "hasn't made as many consumer-facing changes to Whole Foods as people had expected, but these behind the scenes moves suggest it's just a matter of time."

What's happening: Changes to Whole Foods' management hint that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos doesn't want to run it as an independent operation. By doing so, he is transferring veteran employees at the e-commerce company throughout the grocery store's chains, CNBC notes.

  • Also under Amazon, Whole Foods is taking more control over how products are displayed in its stores, and no longer using outside agents to ensure there are enough items on the shelves.
  • But as the grocery franchise integrates with the Amazon, more than a dozen executives have left since the acquisition. Citing the audio of an internal meeting it has obtained, Business Insider reports Thursday that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said both companies have had "many, many clashes." "Amazon has listened, and they have been very respectful, and they have backed off," he said.
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