<p>Speculation regarding the revival of natural grocery chain Wild Oats is on the rise following news of Yucaipa’s acquisition of the Fresh & Easy brand.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Yucaipa will acquire more than 150 of Fresh & Easy’s approximate 200 stores along with its distribution and production facilities.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Ron Burkle, billionaire Yucaipa founder and former Wild Oats investor, commented that the purchase of Fresh & Easy will “give us a solid starting point to complete Tesco’s vision with some changes that we think will make it even more relevant to today’s consumer.” The Wild Oats revival was first speculated earlier by publications such as Bloomberg News and Financial Times when it was reported that Burkle was in talks to not only acquire the Fresh & Easy chain from Tesco, but also convert the stores to the Wild Oats brand. The reports also indicated that Burkle planned to have Jim Keyes, former CEO of 7-Eleven and owner of the Wild Oats intellectual property, head up the new venture, according to the Denver Post.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Wild Oats, a Boulder-based grocery chain founded in 1987, had more than 100 locations across two dozen states in 2007 when competitor Whole Foods announced plans to acquire the local grocer. The proposed $565 million acquisition proposal came a year after Burkle increased his stake in Wild Oats, becoming the largest shareholder of the company. Greg Mays, who had ties to Burkle and Yucaipa, was appointed interim CEO of Whole Foods after the company did not renew the contract of former CEO Perry Odak.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Although Wild Oats has been absent from the market for nearly seven years, Sonja Tuitele, Wild Oats spokeswoman and natural products industry consultant, believes the brand should still be popular within certain areas of the United States. “People still have very fond memories; the brand recollection, it means something to people particularly in this (Colorado) market,” she said. “If the speculation about Fresh & Easy is true, I’m not so sure those markets have as high of brand awareness.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Tuitele also believes that the industry could benefit from giving consumers other choices about where to spend their food dollars if the Wild Oats brand were to return with its dedication to high product standards.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-business/ci_24065436/grocery-acquisition-fuels-speculation-return-boulder-bred-wild" target="_new"> Denver Post </a><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.wildoats.com" target="_new"> Wild Oats </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
