Whole Foods 2013 Annual Report Download - page 20

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Kenneth Meyer has served as Executive Vice President of Operations of the Company since February 2012. Mr. Meyer also
served as President of the Mid-Atlantic Region from October 2004 to February 2012. Mr. Meyer has held various positions with
the Company and with Fresh Fields Market, which was acquired by the Company in August 1996, including Store Team Leader,
Vice President of the Southwest Region, and President of the South Region.
Available Information
Our corporate website at www.wholefoodsmarket.com averages approximately 178,000 visits each day and provides detailed
information about our Company, history, product offerings and store locations, as well as thousands of recipes and a library of
information about environmental, legislative, health, food safety and product quality issues. With a focus on the local experience,
it also includes tools for our stores to offer custom content to site visitors in their area. In addition, access to the Company’s
corporate governance policies and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including annual reports on Form 10-
K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, interactive data, current reports on Form 8-K, Section 16 filings, and all amendments to
those reports, are available through our website free of charge.
We have included our website and blog addresses only as an inactive textual reference. The information contained on our website
is not incorporated by reference into this Report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Disclaimer on Forward-looking Statements
We wish to caution you that there are risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to be materially different from
those indicated by forward-looking statements that we make from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, news releases, reports, proxy statements, registration statements and other written communications, as well as
forward-looking statements made from time to time by representatives of our Company. These risks and uncertainties include
the risk factors described below. These risks and uncertainties and additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us
or that we currently deem immaterial may cause our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows to be materially
adversely affected.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this analysis are forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, including general business conditions, changes in overall economic conditions that impact
consumer spending, including fuel prices and housing market trends, the impact of competition and other factors which are often
beyond the control of the Company. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.
This information should be considered in conjunction with Part II, “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations” and “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Report on Form
Increased competition may adversely affect our revenues and profitability.
Our competitors include but are not limited to local, regional, national and international supermarkets, natural food stores,
warehouse membership clubs, online retailers, small specialty stores, farmers’ markets, and restaurants. Their businesses compete
with us for products, customers and locations. In addition, some are expanding more aggressively in offering a range of natural
and organic foods. Some of these competitors may have been in business longer or may have greater financial or marketing
resources than we do and may be able to devote greater resources to sourcing, promoting and selling their products. As competition
in certain areas intensifies, our operating results may be negatively impacted through a loss of sales, reduction in margin from
competitive price changes, and/or greater operating costs such as marketing.
Our growth depends on increasing sales in identical stores and on new store openings, and our failure to achieve these goals
could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.
Our continued growth depends on our ability to increase sales in our identical stores and open new stores. Our operating results
may be materially impacted by fluctuations in our identical store sales. Our identical store sales growth could be lower than our
historical average for many reasons including the impact of new and acquired stores entering into the identical store base, the
opening of new stores that cannibalize store sales in existing areas, general economic conditions, increased competition, price
changes in response to competitive factors, possible supply shortages, and cycling against any year of above-average sales
results.
Our growth strategy includes opening new stores in existing and new areas and operating those stores successfully. Successful
implementation of this strategy is dependent on finding suitable locations, and we face competition from other retailers for such
sites. There can be no assurance that we will continue to grow through new store openings. We may not be able to open new
stores timely or operate them successfully. Also, we may not be able to successfully hire and train new team members or integrate