WILD OATS TO ADD FOUR UNITS, IS NEGOTIATING FOR OTHER SITES

AMY I. STICKEL

BOULDER, Colo. -- Wild Oats Markets here has announced plans to open four new units in 1995, and several other locations are under negotiation.

The new units, one in Denver, two in Albuquerque, N.M., and one in Santa Monica, Calif., will bring the natural food chain's total to 18.

The company, which currently operates units in New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Nevada and California, is eventually planning to go public to fund future expansion, said Mike Gilliland, president of Wild Oats.

"That's our eventual intent," he said. Gilliland said the company recently took on some venture capital, which gives it more funding for its expansion. Still, Gilliland said Wild Oats may be a public company by late 1995.

Besides the four units that were announced, Gilliland said Wild Oats is looking to open more units in Denver and Kansas City.

The company may even head east in the next several years. Gilliland said he is not looking at any sites east of the Mississippi River now, but he may as early as 1996. "We're certainly not averse to it," he said.

In 1993, Wild Oats' sales topped $47 million, and the company expects to hit $65 million this year, according to Mardi Devolites, executive assistant. She said projected sales for 1995 are $100 million.