WASHINGTON—FTC announced it acted on several applications related to the divesture of stores and intellectual property as required after the Whole Foods Market acquisition of Wild Oats Market Inc. in 2007. In a letter to The Food Partners, which had filed the applications, FTC noted it approved three petitions related to certain store sites and Wild Oats intellectual property, and denied a fourth petition.
As far as store locations, A-M Holdings, the holding company for Alfalfa’s Market, will acquire and operate the existing Whole Foods location at 1621 Broadway in Boulder—the original site of Alfalfa’s Market. Healthy Investments’ petition to acquire a Whole Foods location in Kansas City, Mo., was also OK’d, as was the request from Trader Joe’s East to acquire a closed store location in Portland, Maine, which it will re-open as a retail outlet.
Regarding intellectual property, Topco had sought to acquire the Alfalfa’s and Wild Oats names and related intellectual property, which it hoped to use for its member-owners to brand their in-store natural and organic sections and cafes, as well as lines of branded products. A-M Holdings also sought the Alfalfa’s name and intellectual property to use in its store operations; Luberski Inc. filed to acquire the Wild Oats name and intellectual property to develop and supply a Wild Oats line of natural and organic packaged foods products and to open Wild Oats stores by licensing the name to developers. FTC determined the Topco proposal did not satisfy the purposes of the divesture of the intellectual property, so denied Topco and approved the A-M and Luberski applications.
In a release from Alfalfa’s, Mark Retzloff, co-founder of Alfalfa’s Market, said the company expected to close the location at Broadway and Arapahoe around the end of July to do an extensive remodel, and reopen by the end of 2010. He added, ““We are thrilled to bring Alfalfa’s back to our hometown of Boulder in the exact location where it all started. As Boulderites ourselves, we will be able to directly address the needs of this community with our passion for natural and organic food, and health care products. We are working with a team of seasoned foodies, retail and organic industry pros to develop a new, state-of-the-art retail experience while maintaining the local, all-natural and community market feel Alfalfa’s was always known for.”