Founded in 1987 in Boulder, Colorado, it was originally a chain of natural foods stores operating throughout the Western and Southwestern United States.

[10] After a partnership agreement by Yucaipa Cos., the relaunch of the branch occurred in April 2014 as an expansion of the organic selections at Walmart stores nationwide.

[6] Fresh & Easy tested a new concept under the Wild Oats banner at a single store in Scottsdale, Arizona, in February 2015.

The 10,000 square feet (930 m2) store opened on February 6 and “...will help us garner insights and learnings about the [Wild Oats] brand and give customers even more options to shop for healthy convenience items," said a company spokesman.

According to the complaint, the FTC believed that the proposed transaction "would violate federal antitrust laws by eliminating the substantial competition between these two uniquely close competitors in the operation of premium natural and organic supermarkets nationwide" and contended that "if the transaction goes forward Whole Foods would have the ability to raise prices and reduce quality and services.

The Court of Appeals ruled that "premium natural, and organic supermarkets" ("PNOS"), such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats, constitute a distinct submarket of all grocers.