Wharton’s Marshall Fisher discusses how retailers can break their ‘addiction’ to top-line growth and adding new stores. Eventually, they run out of new territory and must refocus on building margins by improving same store sales. Fisher describes how 17 retailers did it and the common themes they used. There are lessons here for companies like […]
Whole Foods Proxy Access, we have another chance to vote to make proxy access real before the annual meeting on February 17. Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASD:WFM) is a retailer of natural and organic foods and is one of the stocks in my portfolio. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted. I […]
Most top grocers fail on bee and pollinator protection Poll shows 80 percent of Americans support eliminating bee-killing pesticides from agriculture A new report and scorecard grades 20 of the largest food retailers in the U.S on their policies and practices regarding pollinator protection, organic offerings and pesticide reduction. Of the top food retailers, 17 received an “F” for failing to […]
Today is your last chance to vote for real proxy access at Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM, $WFM), unless you plan to attend the meeting in San Francisco tomorrow. The annual shareholder’s meeting will be held at the Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason Street, San Francisco, California 94108 and will begin at 8 a.m. See Pension funds line up […]
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM, $WFM) is a retailer of natural and organic foods and grocer. WFM is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is on March 9, 2016. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I checked. I voted FOR proxy access, pro-rata vesting of equities and a report on food waste. I […]
In the wake of a New York Times story by Mark Oppenheimer about Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey’s relationship with former rabbi and alleged sex offender Marc Gafni, the company has come under scrutiny. (A Spiritual Leader Gains Stature, Trailed by a Troubled Past) On December 25th, The Times story reported Gafni saying of one […]
As I have mentioned in other posts (see especially Proxy Access Lite: Victories at Whole Foods, H&R Block), several companies have adopted proxy access ‘lite’ with provisions that make implementation excessively difficult and less effective than they would have been under the SEC’s universal proxy access Rule 14a-11. Although I withdrew proposals at several companies, based on the […]
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASD:WFM) is a retailer of natural and organic foods and grocer. The Company has one operating segment, natural and organic foods supermarkets and is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their next annual meeting is September 15, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted. I voted with the […]
In response to proxy access proposals filed this year, both Whole Foods Market (WFM) and H&R Block (HRB) have adopted proxy access. While I had filed standard proposals seeking the ability of shareholders with 3% of shares held for 3 years to be able to nominate up to 25% of the board, both companies adopted […]
Whole Foods Market (WFM) has informed me, without any attempt to negotiate terms over my submitted proposal, their board went ahead in adopting proxy access bylaws. See 8-K and amended bylaws. They have asked if I now want to withdraw my proposal. As I did for H&R Block, below I attempt to weigh the pros and […]
I’m delighted to see “Discussion of Proxy Access” (11:05-12:05 p.m.) as one of the items on the agenda for the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee (SEC-IAC) at the upcoming February 12th meeting. I discuss two recommendations below. Take Action: Please submit your own and paste into comments below. See comments submitted. Proxy Access: Rule 14a-11 In light […]
The SEC has essentially suspended Rule 14a-8(i)(9) Conflicts with company’s proposal. Shareowners at Whole Foods Market and at many other companies have scored a huge victory. Last Friday the SEC issued the following: Statement from Chair White Directing Staff to Review Commission Rule for Excluding Conflicting Proxy Proposals Chair Mary Jo White Jan. 16, 2015 The […]
Apologies to those tired of reading about the issue of proxy access at Whole Foods. However, the SEC’s no action letter is a real watershed moment in the long struggle for proxy access, which began in earnest for me with a rulemaking petition in August 2002 but which others have been puruing for decades. Last Friday […]
The Counsel of Institutional Investors (CII) took a very strong stand yesterday, asking Whole Foods Market to amend its proxy access proposal to conform with the “3 percent for three years” standard applicable to groups. Whole Foods appears to have generated their proposal in direct response to mine in order to obtain a no-action letter from the […]
Nice to see the Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times writing about my appeal of the SEC’s no-action letter allowing Whole Foods Market to exclude my proxy access proposal. (Whole Foods’ High Hurdle for Investors, 1/3/2015) As Morgenson, writes: (more…)
The no-action letter to Whole Foods Market (Whole Foods), sanctioning exclusion of my proxy access proposal is based on a reinterpretation of Rule 14a-8(i)(9) without going through the rulemaking process. Letting Whole Foods substitute a sham proxy access proposal could negatively impact dozens of proposals submitted this year on proxy access and other topics. The […]
… If the stockholder is to regard himself as a continuing part-owner of the business in which he has placed his money, he must be ready at times to act like a true owner and to make the decisions associated with ownership. If he wants his interests fully protected he must be willing to do […]
The following is a guest post from Aaron Bernstein. editor of Global Proxy Watch and a Senior Research Fellow at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School. This piece originally appeared in the November 7, 2014 edition of GPW. I reformatted, added the title, graphics and ads. Let’s hope the SEC recognizes Whole Foods […]
Whole Foods Market, Inc. $WFM is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/24/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org was down for maintenance when I checked and voted on 2/16/2013, so no voting advice there. Fortunately, I did get some help from PIRC. I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
Whole Foods Markets ($WFM) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/15/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I checked on 3/3/2012, more were added later. I voted with management 69% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (Note to IR departments everywhere, including WFM, can’t we make all proxies indexed […]
Whole Foods Market (WFM) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is on 3/9/2012. By the time I post this, voting will have ended on MoxyVote.com‘s platform. However, you can still vote at proxyvote.com and you can still visit MoxyVote.com for recommendations from eight “good causes,” (more…)