The signs outside still say "Wild Oats," but the two local Wild Oats stores are already morphing under their new owner, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market.
The employees are now Whole Foods employees, and the organic and natural foods retailer's signature "365" brand has begun to dominate store shelves.
In March, the Tucson-area stores — at 3360 E. Speedway and 7133 N. Oracle Road — will remain open as they begin to undergo renovations, said local marketing supervisor Kelley Prust.
Prust didn't know when that work will be complete, but added: "You'll see a change every time you come in."
Whole Foods, which already ran nearly 200 locations in North America and the United Kingdom, slogged through an antitrust case last year to acquire Colorado-based Wild Oats, which had about 100 stores throughout North America operating under a handful of names.
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The company has retained all of its roughly 130 Tucson-area employees, Prust said.
And the employees generally are happy to work for the new company, said Keith Kuenzli, associate grocery team leader at the Speedway location. He has worked there for two years.
The benefits and pay immediately improved, he said, and the stores are run more democratically now.
Gone are the manager meetings. In their place, the entire store meets and votes on changes. Specific teams vote on whether to hire certain applicants, he said.
That might explain why Whole Foods Market just made its 11th consecutive appearance on Fortune magazine's annual list of 100 best companies to work for. Last year, it was No. 5; this year, it checked in at No. 16.
"It's all going to be a new routine. That's all it really is," he said, noting that the number of people who call in sick has already decreased since the buyout.
Customer Linda Forslund, 44, said she can tell a difference in employees' attitudes.
A big believer in eating organic, Forslund does all her shopping at the store and will continue to do so under the new ownership, she said.
She feels like employees are more willing to help her find things, she said.
And though Whole Foods has blossomed into a behemoth corporation, it's one of the better corporations, as far as Forslund is concerned.
"You can just feel the shiny brightness moving in," she said of the gradual transformation from Wild Oats.
Whole Foods has much higher standards for organic and natural foods, Prust said. Because of that, the stores are gradually raising their standards to those levels before changing the outside signs.
"But the products are coming in fast. We have completely revamped our products," she said.
An influx of new snack foods has made its way onto the bakery shelves, and the deli case sports all kinds of fare that wasn't offered under Wild Oats — double-stuffed potatoes, rosemary grilled chicken breast, potato pancakes, butternut squash and caramelized onions, to name a few. Customers are welcome to free samples, and there's a hot-food section that didn't exist before.
The sit-down eating area has a bulletin board dedicated to information on special diets.
And as of Earth Day — April 22 — the stores will no longer offer disposable plastic grocery bags. Customers can use paper or choose to purchase bags made of canvas or reusable plastic that is 80 percent post-consumer waste.
Of course, bags reused from home are always welcome.
To encourage the use of reusable bags, the grocer gave away canvas bags to more than 50,000 customers nationwide on Tuesday, including to the first 200 customers at each of its Tucson stores.
Some people are a little more cautious about embracing the new ownership.
Helen Cowles, 75, was shopping at the Speedway location Tuesday for her son.
Cowles said she used to shop Wild Oats until "they got carried away with their pricing" and then she started shopping more at Sunflower Farmers Market up the street at 4645 E. Speedway.
Her daughter in Pittsburgh likes Whole Foods, however, so Cowles is willing to give it a chance, she said, even though in Pittsburgh they jokingly call it "Whole Paycheck."
Another customer, Andy Cifrino, 52, said he doesn't have an opinion just yet on Whole Foods, but he's glad the general population hasn't latched onto organic foods.
"As soon as the rest of the world discovers its virtue and merit, there will be a shortage," he said.