In 2007 American retailer Whole Foods opened a large store in one of London’s prime locations, Kensington High Street. However Whole Foods’ expansion into the UK has been hard work, and according to an article in The Evening Standard its accumulated losses in this territory amount to over sixty-four million pounds, which is around a hundred million dollars.
Now if you’re a regular reader of this website, you’ll now that I’m constantly berating companies for not consulting astrologers before beginning important projects. However in this case, Whole Foods did seek advice about the best time to open their shop.
The Kensington High Street store opened its doors on June 6 2007, ‘a date chosen as particularly auspicious by a company feng-shui adviser’, or so says The Evening Standard.
I dug a bit deeper, and went to the Whole Foods website. In 2007 it reported:
The new store, opening at 10 a.m. following a bread-breaking ceremony, is spread across three floors within the historic Barkers building on High Street Kensington.
We can therefore set up a horoscope for the opening, at 10 am on June 6 2007, in Kensington.
However before getting into the astrology of the situation, it’s worth looking at the economic environment. As we know, the last few years have been an economic nightmare, and many businesses starting in 2007 would have been damaged by a big slow down in customer spending. Whole Foods presumably weren’t to know about the economic downturn, and it might be, comparatively speaking, that they have done very well in the UK over the last three years. Nonetheless, they have lost a lot of money, and I can’t help wondering whether or not they opened the doors of their Kensington High Street branch at the right time.
As far as the feng shui is concerned, I am in no position to evaluate the methods used to pick June 6 as the opening date, assuming feng shui was indeed used. Feng shui isn’t part of my repertory, and neither is Chinese astrology.
What I can do is evaluate the Western horoscope for 10 am on June 6 2007. Over the course of my career I’ve looked at many, many horoscopes for the start of businesses, and this is probably one of the worst I have encountered.
I should point out that when I say it’s ‘the worst’ I am not being sophisticated or controversial. It’s simple astrology, that I think most Western astrologers would agree with.
At the time of the opening there was an applying, 180-degree opposition aspect between the Moon in Aquarius and Saturn in Leo. In a horoscope the Moon is extremely important – it represents function, and it often tells us where a particular venture is moving to. Saturn is about limitation, and it’s an influence that can be very frustrating. So this Moon-Saturn opposition suggests that Whole Foods’ UK venture is quickly going to run into difficulty, and that progress is going to be much slower than expected.
Yet what makes the opposition exceptional is that it’s right on the horizon. At 10 am, when the doors opened, Saturn was exactly rising, in Leo, which is a problematic signs for Saturn to be in – using the Jargon, Saturn is ‘in its detriment’ in Leo. This rising Saturn, in its detriment, is an unfortunate signature, and it suggests to me that it’s unlikely that Whole Foods’ foray into the UK will be worth the effort, at least in its planned form.
Now I do appreciate that a few Western astrologers might not be bothered with Saturn rising. They might argue that Saturn gives ’structure’, especially as it receives a favourable aspect from the Sun in Gemini. This might be true if Saturn was in Libra, Capicorn or Aquarius, and the Sun was very strong. But in this case the Sun has no essential dignity, and neither does Saturn.
Another planet in the chart that lacks essential dignity is Mercury. It’s ruler of the Second House of money, and it’s damaged by a stressful, 90-degree aspect to Mars. This suggests that financial considerations could become a real headache.
To conclude, I don’t like to knock other systems. I’m sure that feng shui has got its uses, and that it can help businesses to survive and prosper. However in this case, Whole Foods should not have opened their UK shop on June 6, especially at ten in the morning, when Saturn’s malefic influence was on peak form.
Copyright © 2010 Archie Dunlop
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Archie,
How much do you charge for this service? What information do you require from the client?
Do many clients make it public that they have consulted you? In Asia, it is common to have a feng shui expert look at your house plans, Indians will often go to the Temple and ask when they should move in etc.
Generally, in the West, I am sure people would not be so accepting.
John,
Most of the requests I get to choose the right times are non-commercial. For example weddings, or choosing the right time to move.
If you read the comments from Ben on my iPhone article, he talked about an astrologer who claimed to have worked for McDonalds.
Though of course there is an acceptability issue. Whole Foods, given its line of its business, probably could get away with consulting a Feng Shui expert, even thought it is a public company, quoted on NASDAQ.
Unfortunately astrology might have been less acceptable than
feng shui. Feng shui is all about lifestyle, and balance… where as astrology is nonsense, right?
Though the reluctance to consult astrologers might have something to do with practicality. Companies have busy schedules, and the window for a launch, or an opening, might be narrow.
I suppose a really good astrologer might have advised them to hold off until 2012, which is not what they would have wanted to hear at the time!