I like Amazon and I like Whole Foods. I just don't like the idea of them merging and becoming a monster. There are a couple things I get on Amazon that I really appreciate. The local stores where I live don't have unroasted coffee beans. I buy them on Amazon small farms and roast the coffee beans myself.
Most of my coffee bean sellers are also able to list their product as prime and then I don't have to pay shipping, which I think is beneficial to them. With everything in the economy, there will be an exchange of some kind. If there is more automation, jobs will be created in some way too. What we need to do is prevent inflation by getting rid of debt based economy. That is what is causing the problem and when companies merge like this and get super big, getting rid of a debt based economy that creates inflation becomes less and less important to them.
So this is unfortunate. I also really like Whole Foods, but they do have competition too. I like going to Sprouts as well. There are also a lot of grocery store fronts popping up online as well. I have had good experience shopping for groceries online, it just takes more planning. Sometimes, I don't plan out my meals so well and it is easier to go to the store at the last minute.
Basically, what this means is that we need to find ways to support the competition. No one should be able to monopolize the market like a company like Amazon and Whole Foods could do together.