SLOG: All Amazon, All The Time

Amazon Prime is obnoxious, but not as much as this hype.

@1 Seriously.

Katie, Amazon controls 0.19% of the U.S. grocery market.

If we're upset about companies who are monopolies, we should be going after companies like Comcast, Amazon's not there yet. There's nothing preventing Amazon's competitors from using the same tactics Amazon uses, either.

Totally spot on, hard hitting journalism right here. Amazon crushes all their competitors in every industry they've entered. I mean is there anyone that doesn't own one of their mobile phones? And don't get me started on books. What's the last time you saw someone reading anything but a Kindle? Are there even independent bookstore anymore?

Too bad I can't do with Prime like what I do with other grocery chain loyalty cards: trade with my friends or use random ones I find on the street. It's only a very small way to fuck up their data-mining efforts, but it feels satisfying nevertheless.

I would say this will make me do less shopping at Whole Foods, but you can't do less than zero so I've got no dog in this fight.

@ 7. Katie by 3 to 1 odds. That was some rant there...

Katie, did you freak out like this when Barnes & Noble started their $25/year membership that gets you discounts? Are you bothered by the idea that a $55/year Costco membership gets you lower prices? I don't get the hysteria about this.

P.S. " asparagus water shilling-grocer" is some terrible punctuation.

I strongly supported the head tax but I think this article further hurts the Stranger’s credibility, if only for not knowing the definition of a monopoly.

let’s unpack some of these comments.

So. Amazon essentially admits to be aiming for monopolistic control of a certain market. Sets about everything necessary to do so.

Buuuuuut... hey, they’re are not yet a monopoly... so just ignore them until they BECOME a monopoly.

You know, and it’s much more difficult to untangle and the damage is done.

Yeah. That seems smart.

Like. You know. There is burner left on high on the stove all night. Look. It’s not a fire YET. So. You know leave it on and we’ll wait and see if there is a fire.

This the same bullshit we’ve gone through with every social and environmental problem the Right says to ignore. From Climate change to guns.

And then it’s too late. And, boy, are they happy to complain that it too late to do anything now.

Today is too soon. Tomorrow is too late.

@15 Costco has a 2.43% share of the grocery market, which absolutely dwarfs Amazon's little segment of the market. Costco requires persons to pay an annual membership fee for the privilege of shopping there. And of course, Costco carries far more than groceries: you can get everything from a vacation cruise package to prescription drugs, and fill up with gas on your way out. So, everything Katie is complaining about with respect to Amazon has been going on for decades with Costco, only on a much larger scale.

If you are worried about monopolization of the grocery industry, look at Walmart, Costco, Target, etc. Those companies wield enormous influence over the industry, and have a much bigger effect on the average American than Amazon.

Katie's piece was objectively stupid. That's what all the comments are about. Don't mistake those comments for some sort of misguided ignorance of the risk of corporate power.

Dear Katie,
If you don't like it, cancel your Prime if you have it. Stop watching the videos. Stop listening to the music. Don't shop there. Instead pay "Full Retail"! Support your LB's, never buy on-line if it's cheaper. Stop/Don't shop at Whole Foods.

If you don't, you'll end up sounding hypocritical. Oh...wait...you write for "The Stranger". Uhm...,never mind that last line...

I live far enough outside Seattle that routinely shopping at Whole Foods is not an option (and it will never expand into my community). When I did make the long trek to the closest Whole Foods, after it had been Amazonized, it looked exactly like, the stock was comparable to and the prices were higher than our local Safeway.

There was nothing at all special about Whole Foods anymore. But I bet a lot of Millennials and upscale urban dwellers believe there is because obsolete marketing myths die hard.

Anyway, after that Whole Foods trip, there's no reason to believe I'm missing out on anything by not having a Whole Foods nearby. Besides, in season, I always buy from local farmers' markets and farm stores. Whole Foods never did hold that much appeal, and the little it had is gone. I doubt I'll be making the long haul to a Whole Foods again.

The last that ought to be more terrifying is our political inability to eventually bust any trusts. Even the Clinton/Obama regimes wouldn't stand up to Ma Zon

22 I buy at farmers' market and farm stores. They really grow stuff where I live. And it looks a hell of a lot better than Amazon's/Whole Foods' produce now does. It's slid downhill pretty far from when it was actually Whole Foods (not an Amazon front) back in the day.

Now tell me, do you work for Amazon? Wait. Don't answer that. I think I already know the answer.

Scary! #teamkroger

Oh wait. #teamwalmart Uh oh, that’s not right.

teamalbertsons? #teamtarget? #teamcostco? #teamredapple?

Rooting for injuries?

Just wait until the staff here learns about the existence of BJ's and Sam's Club.

I get discounts at Central Co-op because I'm a member.

It is SO EASY to simply avoid Amazon. And Whole Foods. Consumers have choices and I choose not to enrich that weird SOB by one red cent.