An Edmonton-based company has bought a British Columbia health food store from a major U.S. chain.
Planet Organic Health Corp. announced last week it has bought the Capers Community Market in Victoria from Boulder, Colo.-based Wild Oats Markets. The cash value of the deal was not disclosed.
The Victoria store has annual sales of more than $4 million Cdn and 45 staff. Wild Oats still owns three Capers stores in Vancouver along with some 200 other retail outlets in the United States.
“Here is an example of an all-Canadian public company buying a store from a U.S. giant, an outfit that does business of $700 million US a year,” Planet Organic president Mark Craft said in a statement.
“That’s a change from the increasing U.S. presence in the Canadian economy, especially in the grocery business.”
Planet Organic is a publicly traded company (POH-CDNX) established in mid-2001 to acquire profitable natural food stores and maximize their potential through marketing and operational strategies.
Last year, Planet Organic bought Edmonton’s Terra Natural Food Market, which was founded by Craft and partner Diane Shaskin in 1993. Operating on trendy Whyte Avenue, Terra achieved growth of 13 per cent a year.
Now renamed to reflect the new ownership, the store recently moved two blocks away to the new Strathcona Town Centre Mall, doubling its space to 8,00 square feet.
