I have resented having to write about this, but it seems I must. I think you, our treasured supporters, have a right to know why our products went from selling strong in Whole Foods Markets in a three-state radius (“flowing well” in WFM terminology) to being “discontinued and ineligible for reorder” on February 15, 2011. Withdrawn under circumstances so mysterious that countless WFM staffers have turned to US for an explanation!
I wish I could say that the WFM decision was a shock, but it wasn’t. An all out offensive against the Duggan Sisters brand (and the Duggan Sisters personally) had been going so full throttle for so many months that it had felt inevitable for quite awhile. Of course, we wish we had beaten them to the punch; but what small family business in its right mind would close 18 accounts that it had dedicated itself to building for the better part of 17 months. Actually, the “better part” cannot be said of those months. Some of the worst experiences of verbal abuse, coordinated deceit, butt covering and all around misogynistic bull crap comes closer to the truth.
A neighbor who happens to be a lawyer and social worker who had her own experience with the WFM ethos when trying to defend the rights of a developmentally disabled WFM employee captured it spot on, we think, when she looked us straight in the eye and said, “They’re just a bunch of misogynistic PR*#%S, don’t you think?” We couldn’t agree more.
We would deeply appreciate you reading our account of our grassroots endeavor’s doomed encounter with Whole Foods. Please know that the Duggan Sisters are more committed than ever to bringing you the finest, healthiest, most environmentally responsible and lymphatically sound deodorant we know how to make. Whole Foods Market “doesn’t like us.” We believe you still do and so we continue to make our products and sell through the finest ethical retailers worldwide and direct from our little cottage, as well.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Stay tuned.
Mary Duggan
