Wild Oats Market Plans Move to Acords Locale Despite Protest

LAGUNA BEACH —  Despite opposition from some residents, a founder of Wild Oats Community Market said Wednesday that the company will move forward with plans to open the store where Acords grocery store has done business for decades.

“We feel we have more to offer than Acords,” Libby Cook said from the company’s headquarters in Boulder, Colo. “We’ve got a lot invested in this already.”

In one of the most emotional City Council meetings this year, residents pleaded with city leaders Tuesday night to help preserve Acords, presenting a petition that they said contained 2,000 signatures from people who don’t want the community market replaced by the upscale health food store.

Though the new business has already received Design Review Board approval for modifications to the exterior of the building at 283 Broadway, the council voted unanimously for a 60-day “cooling-off period” so the parties involved can reconsider their options.

One possibility would be to allow Acords to stay where it is and Wild Oats to open elsewhere in town.

Acords has become a symbol of the city’s vanishing “resident-serving” stores that cater to local residents rather than tourists.

“When do you ever go in Acords and not see someone you know?” business owner Terry Neptune asked. Resident Regumbah Connolly added: “I see the town that I love becoming very generic.”

While the crowd was overwhelmingly in favor of Acords, a few people said they would welcome Wild Oats. One man said he and some of his friends wonder, “Why are we saving Acords?”