Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Markets, Texas Food Chain to Merge
Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets, based in Sherman Oaks, said Wednesday that it agreed to be acquired by Whole Foods Market Inc. in a $56-million stock deal that merges the nation’s two biggest natural-food supermarket chains.
Whole Foods, based in Austin, Tex., has 22 stores in Texas and five other states. In fiscal 1992, it reported sales of about $120 million. Privately owned Mrs. Gooch’s, with seven stores in the Los Angeles area, had about $85 million in sales last year.
John Mackey, Whole Foods’ chairman and chief executive, said: “We think we can expand to about 20 Mrs. Gooch’s stores in Southern California over the next six or seven years.â€
Mrs. Gooch’s shareholders will receive about 1.5 million shares of Whole Foods stock. The transaction is subject to approval of Whole Foods shareholders.
Whole Foods’ stock climbed $1.25 to close at $37.25 a share.
Mrs. Gooch’s would continue to operate under the name of the chain’s co-founder, Sandy Gooch.
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