Wild Oats in Mission to close Oct. 28

[KansDem]

Posted on Mon, Sep. 17, 2007

Wild Oats in Mission to close Oct. 28
By JOYCE SMITH
The Kansas City Star

Whole Foods Market Inc. on Monday said it will close the Wild Oats Market in Mission late next month.

The chain also plans to relocate and expand the Wild Oats store on Main Street in Kansas City within the next three years and open another area Whole Foods operation.

Whole Foods, the Austin, Texas-based natural foods giant, has been rolling out its restructuring plans for various markets since buying Wild Oats, its Boulder, Colo.-based competitor, last month.

At the time of the merger, Whole Foods had 191 stores, including one in Overland Park, and annual sales of $5.6 billion. Wild Oats had about 110 stores — including stores in Kansas City, Mission and Overland Park — and annual sales of about $1.2 billion.

“They are two companies that are probably more similar than any two grocery chains out there, taking care of our communities for over 20 years,” said Will Paradise, Whole Foods’ regional president of the Rocky Mountain region, covering Kansas, western Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho and Utah. “It seems like there is a lot of synergy between these two companies, and it’s a great fit.”

The Mission store is scheduled to close Oct. 28, Paradise said, and a new Whole Foods store will be planned within 15 to 20 miles of that location. After a site is selected, it usually takes a couple of years to build and open a store.

In the next year, the company also plans to “upgrade and improve” the Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores in Overland Park, as well as the Main Street Wild Oats.

The lease for the Main Street store, one of the smallest in the chain, expires in three years. Paradise said it will then be relocated and replaced by a 40,000- to 60,000-square-foot Whole Foods.

In the meantime, customers will see Wild Oats branded products in Whole Foods stores, and vice versa, along with more produce and seafood at Wild Oats stores.

Paradise said prices will be reduced on some everyday items, partly because of the greater buying power of the merged companies.

But for now there’s “no rush” to change the name of the Wild Oats stores to Whole Foods.

Mission’s 48 workers are being offered jobs at the three remaining stores, increasing staff sizes 15 to 25 percent at each store, he said.

.

“Our goal in this merger — we’ve been very clear all along — is to take two really good companies and build a better company,” Paradise said. “The way we are going to do that is by listening to the folks that work there and by focusing on some of the areas that they do better than us so we can learn and vice versa.”

To reach Joyce Smith, call 816-234-4692 or send e-mail to [e-mail].
© 2007 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com

:grr:

Our goal in this merger — we’ve been very clear all along — is to take two really good companies and build a better company--How? By building a store "15 to 20 miles" away from this location? How does this benefit consumers?

This announcement has me acrimonious!!!

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. That is a yucky store anyway, IMO

I live just a few blocks away and the 2 or 3 times I went in there I could never find what I wanted. I was hoping Whole Foods would turn it into a Whole Foods. I LOVE that store.

I also think they may come to regret this decision. Once the condos and shops open at the old Mission Mall location, that is a perfect location for a grocery store.