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History
Our First Market
Wild Oats was founded in 1987 with the purchase of Crystal Market, the only vegetarian natural foods store in Boulder, Colorado. With no experience in the natural foods business, our founders relied on the expertise of their employees and the wealth of natural product knowledge in Boulder to build Crystal Market into a thriving business. The timing was ideal, as the natural foods industry was about to embark on a rapid phase of growth and consolidation.
Building Our Business
In 1991, Wild Oats opened our first supermarket-sized store in Santa Fe, New Mexico, leading an emerging trend that changed the face of the industry. Our St. Francis store in Santa Fe opened as one of the busiest natural foods stores in the U.S. and continues to thrive, despite increasing competition over the years. Crystal Market was re-named Wild Oats Vegetarian Market in 1992, and in the ensuing years, the Company began opening and acquiring other, small natural foods stores. The playing field began to move from one of small, "mom and pop" co-op stores to an expanding industry of regional chains characterized by larger, supermarket-style stores.
The public began to take notice of our sleepy little Boulder company, the passion with which we sold natural and organic foods, and the way we carried out our mission to provide education and products that promoted health and well-being. In 1993 and 1994, Wild Oats was named one of the "500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America" by Inc. Magazine. Interest quickly spread to Wall Street, and in 1996, Wild Oats became a public company with our stock traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "OATS."
The Wild Oats’ story continued with a period of rapid growth. We gained market share through acquisitions and new store development. Our growth spurt peaked in 1999 with the addition of 47 stores in a single year. We now operate more than 110 stores in 25 states and Canada.
Planting the Seeds for the Future
We are now strengthening and streamlining operations to support and continue to build Wild Oats. In 2001, Perry Odak took over the reins as President and CEO of Wild Oats, joining us from Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, where, as CEO, he was credited with building a successful business while maintaining the company’s community focus and entrepreneurial spirit.
We are excited about the future of Wild Oats and remain committed to superior service for our customers, and to providing an exemplary work environment for our employees.
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