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Untitled
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Nature of the Game
Sowing the seeds of John Mackey's Whole Foods empire
by Judith Quain
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 Twenty years ago, John Mackey dropped out of college and started a natural foods store in a house in Austin, Texas, where he slept on a pullout couch on the third floor. That small venture became Whole Foods Market, Inc., a $1.4 billion empire that Mackey predicts will more than triple its sales to $4.5 billion in 2003.
Often portrayed in the media as a flower-powered hippie, John Mackey defies the stereotype. Although he follows his heart, he is an avowed capitalist who plays to win. Mackey manages to stay true to his values of social and environmental responsibility and still make money.
Fortune Magazine has ranked Whole Foods Market [also known as Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market] as one of the top 100 best companies to work for, and he's been praised for his employment practices, yet the unions have declared him Public Enemy #1 and advocacy groups have attacked him. Mackey now faces stricter federal standards for organic foods and herbal remedies, but the adversity seems be a catalyst for his libertarian views: "The processes are at war here, and they're not just at war in our industry, but in our world at large."
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Meet John Mackey.
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John Mackey
;)
