Critical Thinkinng

Designing Facilities for the New Whole Food’s “365” Chain Concept.

 Links to a news item and a video below provide an account of the facility layout for new “365” chain of Whole Food Stores. The news item (published in the “Most Creative People in Business” issue in Fast Company journal) and video describes Whole Foods new “365” concept for smaller more standardized stores with reduced costs. There are many differences from the traditional large scale stores including reduced locally sourced items, reduced individual service counters, and a standardized layout. 

 https://www.fastcompany.com/3058976/the-whole-foods-playbook-for-reaching-new-markets 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FioyFJ5vlrs 

Write brief but well-thought out answers to the questions below:

1. Comment on what type of facility layout (as discussed chapter 7 in text) is appropriate in these new stores and why?
2. Discuss the specifics of process selection (as discussed chapter 6 in text) that is appropriate in these new stores?
3. What does this new 365 store concept mean for Whole Foods in context of Service Process Matrix (as discussed chapter 5 in text)?
4. What is your opinion on how 365 concept stores will fit into organization strategy after Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Food stores?