Only a handful have hard liquor in California and with limited selection. None carry any big multinational brands and products like Coca Cola, Procter&Gamble, Colgate/Palmolive, etc.
In my experience, comparing organic food at whole foods vs elsewhere whole foods is similar price and sometimes the better deal. However, the conventional stuff they have (that makes up a large portion of the food they sell) seems to always be more expensive than elsewhere. I'm guessing the idea of avoiding the same exact brands is to make it a bit harder for customers to notice how much more expensive that stuff is at whole foods or at least think maybe the quality might be a bit better.
