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Robb: In all my 30-some years in this industry, I’ve never seen the level of interest in food that there is right now, and it’s at all age levels.
What’s unique about a Whole Foods consumer? Paradise: They’re educated, passionate about local organics, and they’re pretty demanding. They hold us to very high standards. Robb: About 25 percent of our customers give us 70 percent of our volume. But I don’t think anyone in America shops in only one store anymore. There are too many choices. Are consumers shopping more often? Robb: About 2.5 times a week. Paradise: And a greater perishability of the products drives a lot of that frequency. What was your price tag on this store? Robb: We usually don’t make that public. Generally, we spend about $275 a foot companywide, but every store is different. What’s the bonus of opening this store before the holiday season? Robb: It’s huge. Meyer: But it’s risky, too. People shop at holiday times based on experience. Paradise: If we had opened this store in January, I don’t think next year’s Thanksgiv-
ing and Christmas would be as good as it’s going to be. But because we opened now, people will have a whole year with us. The second holiday season is always better. What makes your employees different than your competitors? Robb: We have 230 workers here and 150 new jobs were created for this Boise operation. The company created 8,500 jobs last year. Paradise: When people come on board with us, they think they’re part of something bigger. Meyer: One of our new produce team leaders worked for another company here in Boise for the last 18 years. He worked for us for two weeks and said, “These two weeks have been the best of my whole career.” I need to take note that you’re wearing a Boise State jacket today. Robb: I’ve been a Broncos fan for a long time. They may not always have the best talent like Texas or LSU, but they take their talent and compete at the highest level of Division I athletics. The highest level. And I love the way Coach Pete leads. You don’t see him strutting the sidelines like those other puffed-out coaches. I don’t care if it’s sports, entertainment or business, someone who leads like that has a quality program.
9:30AM - 1:30PM
8th Street from Bannock to Main Street & on the Grove Plaza
HOLIDAY MARKET - NOV. 3RD TO DEC. 22ND This Week at the Market Tis the season, Bring your Holiday Gift List! Come to Boise’s most unique shopping experience!
RALL
* Fresh locally grown produce, herbs, & flowers * Idaho Specialty Foods & Wines * Great Selection of Local Artwork
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W E N EED A S L U T M OM E NT —A P U BLI C S EL F - O U TI N G B Y A P OP U L AR CE LE BRI TY. SOMEO N E WH O S TA NDS U P A N D TE LLS THE WOR L D : I AM A S L UT. I E NJ OY SE X WI TH MORE THAN ONE PARTNER.” —TED RALL
And a full 99 percent of Americans say they expect their spouse to be 6 faithful. Monogamy, at least as an ideal, is stronger than ever in this country even as it slips elsewhere,” Bret Schulte wrote in U.S. News & World Report in 2008. How do we stop this madness? We need a Slut Moment—a public self-outing by a popular celebrity. Someone who stands up and tells the world: I am a slut. I enjoy sex with more than one partner. Imagine if, instead of denying that he had sex with “that woman, Monica Lewinsky,” Clinton had looked straight into the camera and told the truth, not merely “coming clean” but unashamedly stating that yeah, he had had sex with a woman who was not WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
his wife, and so what? His military and government careers in ruins, Petraeus missed an opportunity to make history. Rather than slink off with “I messed up” as his terse professional epitaph, Petraeus ought to have ditched the Scarlet Letter and stood tall. The general’s surrogates have been ordered to say he’s “ashamed” and working on his marriage and sucking up to his betrayed wife. Which is ridiculous. He certainly wasn’t ashamed while he was rolling around naked with Broadwell—and rightly so. He was having some harmless fun. Someday a famous slutty celebrity will liberate us from the shackles of phony BS monogamism, freeing us to reveal ourselves for who we really are: a nation of sluts.
BOISEweekly | NOVEMBER 28 – DECEMBER 4, 2012 | 11