Vale Macro Wholefoods
The demise of Macro Wholefoods shouldn’t go unremarked on this site.
Macro was an icon at Bondi. Many years ago it was at the forefront of the organic movement, long before we people in the organic world became an “organic industry”.
Macro was emulated but the original store remained true to its roots. I remember going in there once and, cheekily (because I already knew), asking a staff member if they stocked meat. The young dreadlocked woman fixed me with a stare and very carefully indicated every corner of the store with large waves of her hand as she told me: “We don’t carry meat anywhere here in this store.” She was very adamant I understood this and I admired her for her passion, her belief and her earnestness about a healthy diet for body, planet and our fellow creatures.
That was Macro. It was a reasonably small store but one that just buzzed with energy and the cafe always seemed packed.
Then it was bought by Pierce Cody and Brett Blundy.
It changed tack. It grew. It became part of an organic industry, where overall value was measured in dollars and the whole was washed in various shades of green. That wasn’t necessarily bad but Pierce Cody was constantly ready to tell everyone who’d listen that this strategy was the only way forward. At the same time he promised the bright and easy future of organic retailing, he denigrated the “spotty-fruited, hippy past”, whose work over many decades in fact provided him with the point from which he was jumping off.
My friend Barbara Murray, who died last Xmas Eve after a long battle with cancer, owned, with husband John, a wonderful store in Crows Nest called Annabel’s. It stood valiantly against the sudden Macro onslaught across the road but couldn’t survive more than a few weeks.
Now Macro itself has failed, it seems a pity so much was lost along the way and all for naught. Cody never realised organic retailing isn’t as easy as he was making out and that a lot of what he attempted was on the shoulders of people who’d done the hard yards before him and whose efforts he failed to recognize or acknowledge. When the brand-new Concord store failed after just weeks, he blamed the local populace for being not the right demographic. Hubris became the word that occured to me every time I thought about Macro.
There was none of the original spirit of Macro left. It was merely a name grafted onto something different. Struggling quietly and denying rumours of a sellout, Macro kept its doors open until the behemoth Woolworths came along. The massive national supermarket chain gobbled up the struggling Macro a few months ago to acquire sites for the expansion of its Thomas Dux branded stores. As a competitor organic retailer, I was saddened to see the demise of Macro but it was already far from its roots.
As of writing (Macro closed entirely last weekend), their website is still functioning, promising stores far and wide. Full of bluster, no-one ever went back to gauge the reality against the promises. The flashing website now seems like a tatty plastic bag caught in the branches of a tree. One day soon, someone at Woolies will flick off the switch and then Macro will be no more than a memory.
July 6th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Thank you so much for this posting!
We recently moved to Wahroonga, and I considered our new proximity to Macro in Hornsby to be one of the great side benefits of this move. I don’t know of any similar store close to Castle Hill, where we lived before. But the more often I shopped at Macro, the more I became aware of the “soullessness” of the place. Most of the staff there (mainly very young, skinny and unhealthy-looking) were not able to help me in the store (eg. find the products I was looking for, tell me which product was suitable for a particular purpose, when a product would be back in stock and so on).
Last Friday was my first big grocery shopping trip after a 2-week holiday and wham – no more Macro Wholefoods, just a boarded up corner with a sign indicating that a new store would be opening there soon. No explanations (for a minute I even thought I was in the wrong part of Westfield…). So yesterday I decided to check if they had moved – wow, no more Macro website! A Google search brought me to your posting, which has satisfied my curiosity as to the fate of Macro Wholefoods.
But, in addition, it has made me aware of another, hopefully even better place to buy organic and health foods!
So thanks again for your posting, and I’m looking forward to meeting you soon!
Regards,
Sylvia
July 31st, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Thanks for this info. I was aware of the origin of Macro when it opened in Richmond, Melbourne. I shopped there because there was nowhere else close by that I could find to purchase organics. I’ve since moved from Richmond, but was there the other day, and stunned to find a closed-down, boarded-up, very empty shop.
The staff at the Richmond Macro were generally very good. I hope they’ve managed to find other, better jobs. While I didn’t like the money-making philosophy behind the Macro facade of greenish-ness, I do look forward to the day when there are large organic supermarkets in every suburb. Just hope they’ll be owned and run by genuine people, and not by faceless multinationals.
August 5th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Our family too mourned the loss of Macro. It was very sad to lose it – even as it was – but even more sad to see the end of a good history of innovation and support for the organic industry in Australia that pre-dates virtually all of the stores around today. At a time when icons such as Russel’s (Glebe, Chatswood etc.), Helmut’s (Balmain) and Annabel’s (Crows Nest) were long gone, Macro was still there. We had shopped at all of these stores, and had done so at Macro from the beginning (over 20 years ago on the opposite side of Oxford St). I still feel great pride and (funny enough) a sense of ‘protectiveness’ when it comes to the concept and the brand that the Macro name represents.
One thing to consider here, however, is the reported plan of Woolworths to turn the Macro name into a ‘house brand’ for Thomas Dux and Woolworths supermarkets. I’m not sure how I will fell about the name if/when that happens, but at least for those in the know it will be some small reminder of what once was.
I hope the collapse of Macro (which dealt direct with farmers, bypassing the markets) has not hurt our organic farmers too badly…
August 10th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Your place sounds great and I can’t wait to see it but I do want to point out that there is a fantastic store called about life taken over at the orginal Macro site at Bondi Junction… (this is the only one that didn’t go to Woolworths). It is of course a slightly different feel to the original macro (well it is more than 20 years on and I tend to think that “health food stores” have needed to evolve!) but staff are passionate, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and ..wait for it.. friendly. They have improved the cafe enormously (yum!) and the aisles are brimming with great products. about life have another store in Rozelle that we have often travelled postcodes to get to so we were very happy when it turned up on our doorstep. I agree with Justin in mourning the loss of Macro – Pierce may have gone about it the wrong way but his vision was right. Bringing organics to “the masses” so to speak is a noble persuit. Who are we to want to keep it such that only those of us dedicated enough to seek it out at wonderful stores like Granny Smith and About Life can get our hands on this great produce. For that to happen, it will probably mean that some of the “small store/family run” feel will be lost but I think the trade off is worth it ..The bottom line is that the more people buy organic, the better the world will be…
August 10th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Thanks so much for letting people know about Macro and the brief history of our industry. For those based in Melbourne, just to let you know we are a great health store located in Hawthorn and would be more than happy and extremely able to fill the Macro hole. We are located at: 123 Auburn Rd, Hawthorn. Check out our website at http://www.sprouthealthstore.com.au
We hope to see you soon.
We stock an extensive range of everything from fresh organic fruit/veg , meat/dairy, to vitamins, cosmetics, gluten free dairy free foods and packaged goods. We have naturopaths working in store daily and a great Organic Coffee Bar where we serve simple organic lunches and breakfast.
We would love to see you soon.
We are not far from Armadale or Richmond Macro Stores.
September 1st, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Did Macro really collapse or did Woolworths simply buy it and close it down? Seems the logical thing given they were a much smaller and direct competitor.
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Great comments. MAcro was brought out by Woolies for 2 reasons. First to get the Melbourne site for Thomas DUx and secondly to get the Macro brand for it supermarket chain. Woolworths are trying to get credibilty as a true organic and health brand by rolling out the macro brand. Unfortunately the organic industry will not roll over like the multi-national suppliers of Nescafe, Coke etc. I know some organic companies have advised Woolworth’s they are not interested in supplying them, especially as Woolies also demanded that the price be cut as well.
As a former supplier of Macro, the buyout by Woolies was the only way I was ever going to get all the money owed to me. Your local Health and Organic store should be supported in the abscence of the Macro stores.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Thanks for the explanation … I was a loyal Macro Richmond shopper; but had not been in since the birth of my second child; relying instead on our unreliable local healthfood store for a number of essentials.
I am really surprised at how ‘under the radar’ this closure happened in Melbourne. I was a ‘Macro Member’ and did not even receive an email to advise that they would be closing … wonder if Woolies will honour the key-ring and discounts. he, he.
Imagine my bewilderment yesterday when I tried to pull into the car park and there were building works signs everywhere, I thought they must be moving down the street or something .. I did not consider that they had closed. I dragged my two littlies up and down Bridge Road to no avail.
Sadly, I will have to research again where to find much of the food and cleaning products that had improved my son’s eczema ..
PS Woolies has dubious credentials in this market for me … I remember purchasing an ‘organic rasberry jam’ with their label – but it did not list any accreditation/ supplier details .. lets hope the Macro Fig Jam is one of the 100 items for consideration.
November 5th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Just thought I’d give a heads-up on this. As I mentioned when originally posting in this thread, Woolworths intention was to use the Macro Wholefoods name that they purchased along with the Macro stores, as a ‘house brand’ in their Supermarkets – Well, they have now started stocking ‘Macro Wholefoods Market’ branded products in their health foods isle. The packaging and logo are identical to the products available at Pierce Cody’s version of Macro. Nothing appears to have been re-designed, except the labels now read “Packed for Woolworths” not “Packed for Macro Life”. It is extremely, extremely weird to say the least, seeing these products on a Woolworths shelf. I wonder how the original founders of Macro would feel about where their creation has now ended up??
November 18th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I first shopped at Macro when it was in Pyrmont back in the early 80’s, and followed it through it’s 2 Bondi incarnations. I thought Mike and Grant did a wonderful job, a true service to supplying consumers. Both deserve our profound appreciation. Back in those days the emphasis wasn’t on organics so much as making then hard-to get macrobiotic foods available. When I had Harvest Restaurant (1991), I pointed their noses in the direction of Eco Farms and NiuGini Coffee.
Prior to that point they had stocked some organic produce, but the supply was erratic and not their main emphasis. I’m pleased that they were entirely organic a few years later- it was an idea whose time had come. When the two of them came back from a field trip to the US they were, I suspect, heavily influenced by the American store “WholeFoods”. Name, packaging, label changes and new attitude confirmed this. Even though the changes were sometimes greeted with scepticism by their older consumer base, they always managed to carry them off. On the whole, each change was a genuine improvement
I was a little dismayed when they sold the business, but continued shopping there for a while. But each time the experience was a little more soul less. Each new change took the place further from its roots and natural constituency. Hype replaced authenticity, passion, service and commitment. Eventually I stopped shopping there. Like every other egocentric, economic rationalist entrepreneur before him, Cody blew the legacy he brought. His temperament probably wasn’t appropriate to such a business.
Unfortunately, the true damage was done to his competitors. There had always been a vibrant, sustainable health foods industry in Sydney. The competition had been a good thing. The aggressive expansion of Macro under Cody changed this. Helmut’s in Balmain after a long history had vanished some time before, the victim of changing demographics in Balmain/ Rozelle and poor presentation (the cliché 2 week old, wilting organic vegies syndrome.) But then icons like Russel’s and Annabel’s followed. In one case, Annabel’s at Chatswood, it was direct and deliberate competition that forced their closure. This is the true legacy of Pierce Cody’s Macro: the demise of what had previously been a very healthy, vibrant market. The true losers of that are we as consumers.
So the options now are places like Granny Smith’s and About Life or the Woolworth’s/ Coles duopoly that wants to cash in on the health food consumer demographic. About Life may be expensive, but they have my support because they appear passionate and committed to the needs, concerns and style of their consumer base. To my mind, About Life has an integrity which the Woolworth’s/Coles duopoly chains don’t appear to have.
Woolworth’s/ Coles are driven by the Holy Dollar and as such I think should be carefully monitored. For them, the profit motive outweighs considerations of quality and loyalty and commitment to the health food consumer.
Witness their attempts to manipulate or cajole suppliers to cut their prices. This doesn’t flow on to the shelf price. Also witness the way they manipulate the market for self profit: for example, they discontinued stocking a good, sugar free wholefood product like Uncle Toby’s Organic Vita Brits and replaced it on the shelf with sugar-laden, generic house brand Organic Wheat Biscuits. There is even a disinformation campaign to accompany that.
What is really needed now is a resurrection of that former vibrant, competitive healthfood / wholefood scene of the 80’s & 90’s: several new shops or chains whose owners have passion and commitment to the consumer base. This would an antidote to the practices of the duopoly and provide some competition to them. Any entrepreneurial types out with the passion and desire to see that happen?
November 19th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
There are a few of us quality organic retailers out there. You just have to look! And I’ve always said, you get what you deserve, so if there aren’t many of us, it must mean there aren’t enough people who care that much.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I want so very, very much to like About Life – and I will most definitely be supporting them (along with Granny Smith of course) but if I were to compare Macro Wholefoods at its best, to About Life today, I think the comparison is not so favourable. The atmosphere of the About Life stores (original one at Rozelle and especially the old Macro store at Bondi Junction) somehow is not quite right. The atmosphere is awkwardly somewhere between ‘preaching green’ and ‘trendy commercial’, if that makes any sense… I have no problem with passion for the environment, but I do find the increasing amount of ‘non-organic’ produce and ‘non-organic’ items stocked at About Life, many of which are pre-prepared and wrapped in copious amounts of packaging, somewhat confusing and at odds with what they say they stand for. The name and logo, ironically, are both equally ambiguous in regards to what the store is. Macro Wholefoods in Bondi Junction always had the store stocking 100% organic produce. I do not enjoy going out of my way to shop at About Life to find fruit or vegies in the produce section labelled as ‘conventional’.
I loved Annabels in Crows Nest. Without a doubt one of the best. I am not sure though that the shop would still be there, even if Macro hadn’t come along, due to the late owner’s bad health… Of course there is still Heller’s Health Foods down Willoughby Rd a few blocks – but then they also seem to suffer the ‘cliche’ limp produce syndrome…
January 31st, 2010 at 7:31 pm
I have somehow dragged myself as an employee through the macro-Thomas Dux stage. We were always told at work that Macro was for sale, and when Woolies started using our logo (almost), it seemed the time was up. Sure enough, a month later, the news was in.
I totally agree with the initial post, that the reality of the Macro stores and business got completely away from Pierce before too long, and he never looked back and reassessed things. What he has done is create a marketable brand which has wide spread recognition among consumers and big business buyers. Well done, but obviously not the story sold to the hundreds of loyal customers who found somewhere peaceful and nurturing to shop.
What I know to be the truth of the Macro collapse is this: Pure, unchecked nepotism. Most ‘executive’ staff members were personal friends of Cody, and he paid them a stinkin’ fortune to hang around. The manager of my store, whom I know regularly slept whilst at work, was paid over a hundred thousand a year more than our store could profit – a total of nearly twohundred thousand for just one staff member. So after personally ‘bailing out’ Macro with his own chequebook a couple of times, Cody cut his losses and handed over to Woolies.
Our ‘induction’ to TD and woolies was disgraceful- The goon in charge of the whole chain had the gall to tell an entire room full of ex-Macro staff that there was no market for organics – or else ‘he wouldn’t be here’- Ha! And now six months on, serious problems lurk for ‘The Dux’. Mass staff walkouts, ridiculous budget plans, The truth is, they aren’t trying to take out the organic/gourmet market – they haven’t a clue. They are really out to take the business we give to the local small supermarket. The only thing they don’t sell is cigarettes.
I still support my local organic shop – Go to Cheltenham Organic Supply on reserve road if you live in Bayside Melbourne – and religiously send people there.
Hopefully all our health food shops will become little macro’s for us. We can rebuild.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
I am incredibly saddened to hear the knews of this sale. I was also a Macro employee for close on two years. I came into the business not long after the original sale to Pierce and co when the atmosphere was still great. Staff were passionate and I learnt so much from the people I worked with. Slowly as time went on I watched the original staff members leave or be shown the door, watched this wonderful innovative store become a chain that expanded to Crow’s Nest and Melbourne with more to come. Many of the old customers stopped shopping there out of principle and the ones that continued often mentioned how disgruntled they were at souring prices and the disappearance of many of the old and loved products to be replaced with items like organic tampons and other products in an attempt to reproduce the booming commercialisation of Organics in America. We were always told by Pierce that this store was his legacy to his children and how he wanted them to be a part of it when they grew up. There were reservations regarding what he had done to other chains in the past – bought them out, changed them and resold them for a profit and he always assured us that this was different.
Hope you sleep well Pierce.. you destroyed one of the best stores in Sydney and in the process destroyed the livelihoods of so many other health food stores along the way. And for what? More $$$ for your pocket.