Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger

[Aloysius]

Question - since I am one of those "wouldn't be caught dead in Walmart" (well alot of this is based on the fact I couldn't tell you where the nearest Walmart to me is) I have no sense of this: do Walmart or Safeway currently have natural food products competitive with Whole Foods, Wild Oats, or I guess TJ's?

Also from the most recent Bloomberg update:

[ QUOTE ]
``If Whole Foods is allowed to devour Wild Oats, it will mean higher prices, reduced quality, and fewer choices for consumers,'' Jeffrey Schmidt, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. ``That is a deal consumers should not be required to swallow.''

[/ QUOTE ]

At first blush this strikes me as bordering on retarded considering the current price points. Then again I don't really know this market at all and what consumers will bear for their organic product...

-Al