<p>Whole Foods Market is set to open a new discount-format in economically struggling cities like Detroit as part of its goal to reposition as a go-to grocery store for everyday staples for shoppers on any budget who are less inclined to pay the big bucks. According to Adweek, Whole Foods will launch pilot stores in Detroit, New Orleans and on Chicago's South Side in 2013 and 2014. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Detroit is slated to open June 5th and like the others, will feature fewer staffers, lower prices, and more frozen and prewrapped food, Whole Foods co-CEO John Mackey, was reported as stating. "For every penny we cut off the price, we reach more people who can afford to shop with us," he said.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Whole Foods has been offering classes in community centers in Detroit about how to shop frugally at its store with a focus on Whole Foods' own 365 private label line.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Anne Howe of Anne Howe Associates, a shopper marketing consulting firm, commended the retailer for its move into "food deserts" that include the cities to welcome the new format.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"The premise that the healthy food we sell at our stores is expensive or elitist is false," Mackey said. “If you know how to cook and if you buy whole grains, beans and produce, you don't need to spend lots of money," he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Whole Foods might be able to deliver a value proposition in these new locations by adjusting its assortment and pushing its 365 brand," Andrew Pierce, U.S. President of Brand Consultancy Prophet, is reported saying in the publication. "But if Whole Foods pushes into truly low income areas, it could create some discontinuity in the brand positioning. Whole Foods is perceived as high price and high quality, so unless carefully managed, there can be a disconnect."</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/will-whole-foods-dilute-brand-lower-cost-chain-149955 " target="_new"> Whole Foods </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
