Wild Oats on Nassau Street to close

After nearly nine years in business, the Wild Oats Market on Nassau Street will permanently close its doors this May. The closing coincides with an apparently unrelated announcement on Feb. 21 that the national Wild Oats Markets, Inc. chain is being bought out by rival Whole Foods Market, Inc.

"We got the information two or three weeks ago [that the store was closing]," Nassau Street store manager Mbeeane Biouf said. "And then we got the information that Whole Foods was buying Wild Oats last week."

Biouf said he does not know when the decision to close the store was made.

"We don't know what's going on," he said, adding the move will affect the store's 30 to 35 employees. "The reason they gave us is the store is closing because the landlord doesn't want to renew the lease. And so the store will be closing in May."

Phone calls and emails to the corporate headquarters of Whole Foods and Wild Oats were not returned.

Wild Oats, which specializes in natural and organic foods, has long been popular among students seeking an environmentally friendly and health-conscious source of groceries.

The Princeton retailer is just one of the 110 Wild Oats stores currently operating in 24 states and Canada, and sales last year topped $1.2 billion. Those numbers are much smaller, than the corporation's new parent company. With nearly 200 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and sales of more than $5.6 billion last year, Whole Foods is the largest natural and organic food retailer in the world.

Last Wednesday, Whole Foods announced it will buy the national Wild Oats chain for about $565 million. Whole Foods will also assume $106 million of Wild Oats' debt in a deal that is expected to close in April.

Officials at Whole Foods hope the merger will allow the new company to better compete with traditional grocers, which continue to encroach into the organic and prepared foods market.

"As the natural and organic foods industry continues to receive attention from larger conventional players, the timing for our two companies to join forces could not be better," Gregory Mays, chairman and C.E.O. of Wild Oats, said in a press release last week. "We believe this strategy is in the best interest of our shareholders, and our board of directors has unanimously recommended that Wild Oats Markets' stockholders tender their shares in this offer."

Since arriving on Nassau Street in 1998, Wild Oats has offered a wide array of specialty foods including organic produce, gourmet groceries, natural meat, seafood and ready-made meals. The store has also donated food and funds to several nonprofit organizations in the area, including the Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton Y.M.C.A., Crisis Ministries and the Children's Health Environmental Coalition.

"I go [to Wild Oats] because it's a way to get healthy eating options," said Stephanie Bachas-Daunert '10, who visits the store more than once a week. "A lot of times if you don't have time to go to the dining hall or late meal, it's a convenient way to get healthy snacks."

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Bachas-Daunert said she was upset to learn she'll have to look elsewhere starting this summer. After Wild Oats closes, the closest natural and organic foods store will be the Whole Foods Market on Route 1, which is nearly four miles from the center of campus.

"It's definitely going to be an inconvenience," she said. "If you don't have a car on campus, then it's not a viable option to go down to the Whole Foods. I could walk to the Wild Oats on my way back from the E-Quad. Now I'll lose half a day trying to find someone with a car or taking a bus down to Route 1."

For other students, the trip to an organic foods store holds sentimental value.

"My hometown had a Whole Foods ever since I was really young," Molly Alarcon '10 said. "When I go to the Wild Oats here, it reminds me of home. It was a burst of organic goodness."

Like Bachas-Daunert, Alacron said she now anticipates a longer trip to complete her shopping.

"I'm going to get cravings for real, healthy food," she said. "I'm going to have to borrow a car or get someone to take me down to the Whole Foods."

But not everyone is upset to see the town's Wild Oats store close its doors.

"It's wildly overpriced," Alix Greenwald '10 said. "They make people pay way too much for low-quality food. It's the only grocery store around, and it charges people far too much for bad food."

Greenwald was more complimentary toward the firm that will take over Wild Oats.

"I love Whole Foods," she said. "The prices are a bit similar, but the quality of the food is truly better. The prices are worth it, the food tastes good and it makes sense."