The story of Whole Foods and its founder, John Mackey, is the quintessential entrepreneurship story. According to Wikipedia, John Mackey and Rene Lawson borrowed $45,000 from family and friends in 1978 to open a small natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin, Texas. When the couple were evicted from their apartment for storing food products in it, they decided to live at the store. Because it was zoned for commercial use, there was no shower stall, so they bathed using a water hose attached to their dishwasher. Two years later they brought on partners who owned another grocery store and formed Whole Foods Markets.
In 2017 the company was sold to Amazon.com for $13.7 Billion. As of early 2023 they: employ over 100,000 people and provide products to raving fans through 546 stores operated in the US, Canada, and UK. Following is a video from Reason TV of John Mackey making a moral case for capitalism.
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