Sales slump forces Sunflower layoffs

Natural-foods chain founder says workers will have preference when new south-side store opens in January Bob Quick The New Mexican 10/6/2009 - 10/7/09 Following "a huge first month" of sales and then an unexpected downturn, the Sunflower Farmers Market in Santa Fe has been forced to lay off about 25 percent of its workers.

[Homer Winslow]

Bound to happen. The free bags were nice, but with Trader Joe's prices on cheese, and Farm Fresh on produce, and Albersons on everything, if you shop smart, PLUS, you get the knives or the pans.... why make another stop? And the parking is bad.

Whole Foods, of course, is an idiotic choice, pricewise, and makes little sense otherwise, except for coffee filters, go figure. The free snacks were nice, but after their fascist CEO bloviated, we haven't been to WF since. And it is only a block away! Let them die, and take their obnoxious big box store and obscene heating/ducting/cooing crap with them!

[Gnarlodious]

Two points.
1) Every Sunflower opening is a huge deal with promos and overstaffing, so its a little misleading to claim they hired too many.

2) Santa Fe is not suburbia, people here are more health and local conscious than Denver or Phoenix. But Sunflower positioned itself right between Albertsons and The Market Place. People who don't want organic will go to Albertsons, and people who want organic will go to Market Place. So it is going to be tough marketing non-organic to Santa Fe consumers. Especially with no local or ethnic section. Mistake that.

[PeterW Santa Fe]

Mayor Coss wrote:

See?
Thank Our City Councul For This!
I'm On my Way Out of Santa Fe.
Sanctuary City for Illegal Immigrants.
To Hell With Legals.
Vote for Illegal Immigrants Civil Rights!
Screw you, people of Santa Fe!

Really? The City Council hired and then fired them? And they were illegals? Wow, I had no idea! Thanks for informing me!

[Wow]

...that was quick.

[Tamara Baer Planner]

YEAH!
and My Fellow Citizenm Are Outraged we Allow Minimum Density and Occupancy Codes to be Violoated in my Distric.
the People of Camino Sierra Vista / Baca Street, Need to Keep the Freebies From Arcade News, The Marital aid Store, Gifts Coming.
To Keep up with the Marital Aids, and Free Booze Coing Like the Local Property Management Companies Do.
72 Hours @ the Mustang Ranch!
Try that Baca Street
Lick mm Lips!

[Gandalf]

This must be the dumbest store management in New Mexico. All the excuses are pure BS!

[ok im done]

As of today, I am dropping the subscription that I have had with the New Mexican for over twenty years. Why, you ask? Well that is a very good question, and thanks for asking. But here is why: because I read this regurgitated article in yesterday's ABQ Journal. bye bye sfnm; soon to be the "oldest newspaper" that 'was' in the west.

[Santa Fe Woman]

By The Market.....do you mean LA MONTANITA CO-0P on West Alameda Street?

Also,what do you mean by "local and ethnic" foods?

Just wondering..........

Gnarlodious wrote:

Two points.
1) Every Sunflower opening is a huge deal with promos and overstaffing, so its a little misleading to claim they hired too many.
2) Santa Fe is not suburbia, people here are more health and local conscious than Denver or Phoenix. But Sunflower positioned itself right between Albertsons and The Market Place. People who don't want organic will go to Albertsons, and people who want organic will go to Market Place. So it is going to be tough marketing non-organic to Santa Fe consumers. Especially with no local or ethnic section. Mistake that.

[Gnarlodious]

Most people I have talked to complain about two things:

1) Sunflower is like a boutique store, lots of nice branded specialty items but but not very practical for general shopping. So you have to go to another store anyway. And while you are there, you may as well do all your shopping at the non-boutique store. Sunflower would have done better to take the whole space and build a complete food store, rather than let a mattress store take valuable adjoining space.

2) There is no (New) Mexican department. There is not even any local products. This works in Denver but not Santa Fe, where even white people love green chile. Again, you are making two trips... with Sunflower as the second stop. Even Wal-Mart has a better chile selection.

So look at stores like Market Place (Montañita) or Vitamin Cottage, which are doing a good business. Health conscious Santa Fe consumers want organic, they see through pretend organic in a nice package.

Just a few reasons Sunflower has been a little disappointing.

[Intercultural]

Maybe people realized that the sunflower brand foods are from India and who knows where else, and are of obviously substandard quality. That's not savings, that's nasty.

[Intercultural]

And they have that huge taffy boat in the middle of the store, that's all mixed up and look like little kids have been digging around in it, taking tastes here and there, thier parents putting back half-eaten candy. That's also nasty, not healthy, and unsophisticated.

[Judge Roy Bean]

Nothing like rice grown next to the Monsanto plant...

[Mentiras]

Sunflower did the same thing Whole Foods did when they opened. They wanted to impress shoppers by having a worker in every aisle. Once the grand opening and a few weeks of catering to their customers, they layed off people. Scam.....big time.

[Sure]

I've never been, Albertson's is disgusting and its run by the equivalent of city employees. The Co-Op seems great, only been there a couple of times. Wholefoods for the win!

[I thought]

the grapes I purchased there were old and soft. Alberston's has crisper, fresher grapes. I won't be returning to Sunflower, De Vargas. I may give Sunflower, Zafarano, a shot in January when they open. We'll see.

[insider]

Even before the lay offs the high turn-over was a sign of hiring too many, too fast w/o training. That usually points to bad management. They did position themselves pretty well merchandise wise, between Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I have done allot of serious comparative shopping and if you are a smart shopper you can meet Trader Joe's item for item in many cases, even at Whole Foods. Trader Joe's has no sales, nothing local and ships in everything from a couple thousand miles away. Sunflower and WF do have relatively local produce and more organics. The deli in Sunflower carries Boar's Head but it is dirty and poorly kept. Sunflower does have the best HABA (health and beauty aids) in Santa Fe and the prices are pretty good. Speaking of prices, Sunflower has very good sales. Watch the sale fliers! Seafood is a big deal and where Whole Foods is always on the top of the sustainably caught or raised seafood, Trader Joe's in ALWAYS on the bottom. Sunflower has not been rated but I see a couple of questionable items. TJ'S will argue this but the facts are the facts. The only fish I would buy at TJ'S is the rarely available but very afford-ably priced (8 versus 28 dollars)Copper River Salmon. I no longer buy at the Co-op because they are just too expensive but I like the store and they have beautiful produce. I would suggest before you slam me, do your homework.

[I do not know]

Gnarlodious wrote:

Most people I have talked to complain about two things:
1) Sunflower is like a boutique store, lots of nice branded specialty items but but not very practical for general shopping. So you have to go to another store anyway. And while you are there, you may as well do all your shopping at the non-boutique store. Sunflower would have done better to take the whole space and build a complete food store, rather than let a mattress store take valuable adjoining space.
2) There is no (New) Mexican department. There is not even any local products. This works in Denver but not Santa Fe, where even white people love green chile. Again, you are making two trips... with Sunflower as the second stop. Even Wal-Mart has a better chile selection.
So look at stores like Market Place (Montañita) or Vitamin Cottage, which are doing a good business. Health conscious Santa Fe consumers want organic, they see through pretend organic in a nice package.
Just a few reasons Sunflower has been a little disappointing.

who you talk to, as you seem to spend considerable time blogging! You are at every Thread it seems.

[insider]

Intercultural wrote:

Maybe people realized that the sunflower brand foods are from India and who knows where else, and are of obviously substandard quality. That's not savings, that's nasty.

that is true and also applies to Trader Joes

[insider]

Judge Roy Bean wrote:

Nothing like rice grown next to the Monsanto plant...

next too, try GMO.

[insider]

I thought wrote:

the grapes I purchased there were old and soft. Alberston's has crisper, fresher grapes. I won't be returning to Sunflower, De Vargas. I may give Sunflower, Zafarano, a shot in January when they open. We'll see.

sorry Sunflower does have very nice produce, not organic, but almost local and fresh