Area Wild Oats stores -- closing or rebranding?
Word's trickling out about which Wild Oats stores are going to be closed as a result of their acquisition by Whole Foods, and which are going to be restyled as Whole Foods locations. Portland, Maine -- closing. Louisville -- closing. Hartford -- rebranding as Whole Foods. Detailed plans have also been announced regarding acquired stores in the Boulder area. Anybody heard what's going to happen in Portland, Oregon?
| Posted at 4:45 PM | Permalink |
|
Comments (13)
Haven't heard anything yet, but I'm voting for a re-branding as Whole Foods. I'm new to the Irvington area, and will happily drive to the New Seasons rather than walk a few blocks to Wild Oats. I'll keep voting with my feet...
Posted by TJR | September 6, 2007 5:26 PM
The one in Bridgeport Village will probably close. It's less then 200 feet from a Whole Foods; and the WF space is much bigger.
Posted by Citizen | September 6, 2007 6:54 PM
In the next day or so the employees of Wild Oats in OR/WA who are staying on as Whole Foods employees are starting the HR process (insurance, uniforms etc)... The stores that are not being closed are about to enter the transition to Whole Foods..selling out the private label product, making management changes and preparing to implement their distribution plan. I would expect in the next 30-60 days the transition will be finished. Obvious to close is Bridgeport, Hillsdale...Obvious to stay Fremont, Mill Plain.
Posted by Citizen 2 | September 6, 2007 8:53 PM
Not so obvious to me.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 6, 2007 9:24 PM
i'm just curious as to why citizen 2 thinks it's so obvious that hillsdale will be closing? if it's due to the size, whole foods has stores just as small square footage wise elsewhere. i wouldn't count them out just yet, unless somehow citizen 2 has inside information that no one else has.
Posted by catC | September 7, 2007 4:29 AM
Yeah. What makes it so obvious to you that Hillsdale will be closing, Citizen 2?
Posted by Zeb Quinn | September 7, 2007 8:03 AM
Bridgeport and Hillsdale. Officially in this morning's Oregonian. Bridgeport was a no brainer. Hillsdale too small and too little parking.
Posted by mrfearless47 | September 7, 2007 8:14 AM
The Oregonian article says that the Bridgeport and Hillsdale stores will close, but does that necessarily mean the others will remain open? I'm thinking in particular of the Burnside/28th location, which is pretty tiny.
Posted by Dave J. | September 7, 2007 8:40 AM
The O story is here. It does not explicitly confirm that the other WO stores will remain open, but that's the implication.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 7, 2007 8:47 AM
Well, I'll be surprised if they keep the Burnside location open for very long, if for no other reason than that is a prime location for one of the massive condo bunkers for which Portland is becoming famous.
Posted by Dave J. | September 7, 2007 8:57 AM
It would be a pretty big hit to 28th and Burnside if that WO location closed.
Just as it is to Hillsdale proper. The cluster of stores and restaurants in Hillsdale are going to take a hit when the WO is closed. It's a great location for a grocery.
Posted by Roamsedge | September 7, 2007 9:16 AM
My sealed envelope prediction: They will cheaply rebrand the two Eastside locations and close them both when the Hollywood store opens. Their business model is for large stores in large catchment areas.
Posted by Sherwood | September 7, 2007 9:59 AM
The Boulder area plan (linked in the original post) includes some new formats for WF. Perhaps by the time their condo bunker Hollywood store is open, they'll be comfy enough with those formats to keep something going on Fremont and Burnside.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 7, 2007 2:29 PM