Whole Foods isn't a monopoly EDITORIAL The FTC's move to block a merger with Wild Oats doesn't make sense for consumers. From the Los Angeles Times, June 14, 2007, Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times HOW DOES A retailer that controls about 10% of a market and is competing with much larger players become a monopolistic threat? That's a question the Federal Trade Commission needs to answer before it blocks the proposed merger of Whole Foods Market and the struggling Wild Oats Markets natural foods chain.