The merger of the nation's leading natural foods grocers means Utah shoppers will be exposed to the "Whole Foods experience" much sooner than they otherwise would have been, according to company officials.

"We've been so excited about our entry into Utah," company spokeswoman Kate Lowery said Tuesday. "This recent coming together with Wild Oats will allow us to get there even sooner."

The company recently announced that it will close the downtown Wild Oats store, at 645 E. 400 South, upon the completion of a new Whole Foods Market at nearby Trolley Square.

"That new Whole Foods Market store at Trolley Square is really close, obviously, to the Wild Oats, so we're going to relocate that store," Lowery said.

The new, 53,000-square-foot Whole Foods is slated to open in late 2009 or early 2010. Groundbreaking has not yet been scheduled for the store, which will be on the northeast corner of 700 East and 500 South.

"I think it's really going to put Utah on the organic and natural foods map," said Lowery, who noted that Whole Foods had been "actively and aggressively" looking at Utah as a place to locate a store for some time.

"We really felt that the time was right for Utah and has been for quite a while," she said.

Whole Foods completed its acquisition of competitor Wild Oats late last month. With $5.6 billion in sales in fiscal year 2006 and 197 stores in the United States, Canada and Britain, Whole Foods is one of the world's leading retailers of natural and organic foods.

At the time of the merger, Wild Oats had $1.2 billion in annual sales and 109 locations in 23 states and British Columbia.

Utah's other Wild Oats stores, in Salt Lake City, Cottonwood Heights, West Jordan and Park City, will remain open and will be converted to Whole Foods markets. Shoppers at those locations should soon see the introduction of Whole Foods' private label lines and other internal changes, Lowery said.

"With the increased buying power that this merger is going to bring, it's going to bring a broader supply of products at lower prices," she said. "We'll be able to offer a much more robust shopping experience."

---

E-mail: awelling@desnews.com