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                              Exhibit 3(i).1.(a)


               Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
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                              AMENDED AND RESTATED
                          CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
                                       OF
                            WILD OATS MARKETS, INC.
                            a Delaware corporation

                                       I.

     The undersigned, Elizabeth C. Cook, hereby certifies that:

     ONE: She is the duly elected and acting Vice President of Wild Oats
Markets, Inc.

     TWO: The corporation's original Certificate of Incorporation was filed with
the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on May 31, 1996 under the name
WO Holdings, Inc.

     THREE: This Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation restates,
integrates and amends the corporation's Certificate of Incorporation filed on
May 31, 1996, as amended by the Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation filed July 12, 1996 and the Certificate of Amendment filed on
October 15, 1996 and has been duly adopted in accordance with Sections 242 and
245 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.
  
     FOUR: The text of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of
this corporation is hereby amended and restated to read in its entirety as
follows:

                                      II.

     The name of this corporation is Wild Oats Markets, Inc.

                                     III.

     The address of the registered office of the corporation in the State of
Delaware is The Prentice-Hall Corporation Systems, Inc., 1013 Centre Road,
Wilmington, Delaware 19805. The name of its registered agent at such address is
The Prentice-Hall Corporation Systems, Inc.

                                      IV.
 
     The purpose of this corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity
for which a corporation may be organized under the General Corporation Law of
the State of Delaware.

 
     A.  Classes Of Stock. This corporation is authorized to issue two classes
of stock to be designated, respectively, "Common Stock" and "Preferred Stock."
The total number of shares which the corporation is authorized to issue is
nineteen million two hundred thousand (25,000,000), of which sixteen million two
hundred thousand (20,000,000) shares shall be Common Stock and five million
(5,000,000) shares shall be Preferred Stock. The Common Stock shall have a par
value of $.001 per share and the Preferred Stock shall have a par value of $.001
per share.
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     B.  The Preferred Stock may be issued from time to time in one or more
series. The Board of Directors is hereby authorized, by filing a certificate (a
"Preferred Stock Designation") pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law,
to fix or alter from time to time the designation, powers, preferences and
rights of the shares of each such series and the qualifications, limitations or
restrictions of any wholly unissued series of Preferred Stock, and to establish
from time to time the number of shares constituting any such series or any of
them; and to increase or decrease the number of shares of any series subsequent
to the issuance of shares of that series, but not below the number of shares of
such series then outstanding. In case the number of shares of any series shall
be decreased in accordance with the foregoing sentence, the shares constituting
such decrease shall resume the status that they had prior to the adoption of the
resolution originally fixing the number of shares of such series.

                                       V.
 
     For the management of the business and for the conduct of the affairs of
the corporation, and in further definition, limitation and regulation of the
powers of the corporation, of its directors and of its stockholders or any class
thereof, as the case may be, it is further provided that:
 
     A.
 
          1. The management of the business and the conduct of the affairs of
the corporation shall be vested in its Board of Directors. The number of
directors which shall constitute the whole Board of Directors shall be fixed
exclusively by one or more resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors.
 
          2. Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred
Stock to elect additional directors under specified circumstances, and subject
to the Stockholders Agreement dated as of July 12, 1996 between the corporation
and certain stockholders, following the closing of the initial public offering
pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), covering the offer and sale of Common Stock
to the public (the "Initial Public Offering"), the directors shall be divided
into three classes designated as Class I, Class II and Class III, respectively.
Directors shall be assigned to each class in accordance with a resolution or
resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors. At the first annual meeting of
stockholders following the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the term of
office of the Class I directors shall expire and Class I directors shall be
elected for a full term of three years. At the second annual meeting of
stockholders following the Closing of the Initial Public Offering, the term of
office of the Class II directors shall expire and Class II directors shall be
elected for a full term of three years. At the third annual meeting of
stockholders following the Closing of the Initial Public Offering, the term of
office of the Class III directors shall expire and Class III directors shall be
elected for a full term of three years. At each succeeding annual meeting of
stockholders, directors shall be elected for a full term of three years to
succeed the directors of the class whose terms expire at such annual meeting.
  
     Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Article, each director
shall serve until his successor is duly elected and qualified or until his
death, resignation or removal. No decrease

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in the number of directors constituting the Board of Directors shall shorten the
term of any incumbent director.

          3.  Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred
Stock, no director shall be removed without cause. Subject to any limitations
imposed by law, the Board of Directors or any individual director may be removed
from office at any time with cause by the affirmative vote of the holders of a
majority of the voting power of all the then-outstanding shares of voting stock
of the corporation, entitled to vote at an election of directors (the "Voting
Stock").

          4.  Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred
Stock and the Stockholders Agreement, any vacancies on the Board of Directors
resulting from death, resignation, disqualification, removal or other causes and
any newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the number of
directors, shall, unless the Board of Directors determines by resolution that
any such vacancies or newly created directorships shall be filled by the
stockholders, except as otherwise provided by law, be filled only by the
affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, even though less
than a quorum of the Board of Directors and not by the stockholders.  Any
director elected in accordance with the preceding sentence shall hold office for
the remainder of the full term of the director for which the vacancy was created
or occurred and until such director's successor shall have been elected and
qualified.

     B.

          1.  Subject to paragraph (i) of Section 43 of the Bylaws, the Bylaws
may be altered or amended or new Bylaws adopted by the affirmative vote of at
least sixty-six and two thirds percent (66-2/3%) of the voting power of all of
the then-outstanding shares of the Voting Stock.  The Board of Directors shall
also have the power to adopt, amend, or repeal Bylaws.

          2.  The directors of the corporation need not be elected by written
ballot unless the Bylaws so provide.

          3.  No action shall be taken by the stockholders of the corporation
except at an annual or special meeting of stockholders called in accordance with
the Bylaws and following the closing of the Initial Public Offering no action
shall be taken by the stockholders by written consent.

     C.

          1.  Special meetings of the stockholders of the corporation may be
called, for any purpose or purposes, by (i) the Chairman of the Board of
Directors, (ii) the Chief Executive Officer, (iii) the Board of Directors
pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of authorized
directors (whether or not there exist any vacancies in previously authorized
directorships at the time any such resolution is presented to the Board of
Directors for adoption) or (iv) by the holders of the shares entitled to cast
not less that ten percent (10%) of the votes at the meeting, and shall be held
at such place, on such date, and at such time as they or he shall fix; provided,
however, that the following registration of any classes of equity securities of
the 

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corporation pursuant to the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, special meetings of the stockholders may only be called by the Board
of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number
of authorized Directors.

          2.  Advance notice of stockholder nominations for the election of
directors and of business to be brought by stockholders before any meeting of
the stockholders of the corporation shall be given in the manner provided in the
Bylaws of the corporation.

                                      VI.

     A.   To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, this corporation is
authorized to provide indemnification of (and advancement of expenses to)
directors, officers, employees and agents (and any other persons to which
Delaware law permits this corporation to provide indemnification) through Bylaw
provisions, agreements with such agents or other persons, vote of stockholders
or disinterested directors or otherwise, in excess of the indemnification and
advancement otherwise permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General
Corporation Law, subject only to limits created by applicable Delaware law
(statutory or non-statutory), with respect to actions for breach of duty to the
corporation, its stockholders, and others.

     B.   No director of the corporation shall be personally liable to the
corporation or any stockholder for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty
as a director, except for any matter in respect of which such director shall be
liable under Section 174 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware
or any amendment thereto or shall be liable by reason that, in addition to any
and all other requirements for such liability, such director (1) shall have
breached the director's duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders,
(2) shall not have acted in good faith, or, in failing to act, shall not have
acted in good faith, (3) shall have acted in manner involving intentional
misconduct or a knowing violation of law or, in failing to act, shall have acted
in a manner involving intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, or
(4) shall have derived an improper personal benefit.  If the Delaware General
Corporation Law is hereafter amended to authorize the further elimination or
limitation of the liability of a director, the liability of a director of the
corporation shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by
the Delaware General Corporation Law, as so amended.

     C.   Each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a
party to or is in any way involved in any threatened, pending or completed
action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or
investigative (hereinafter a "proceeding"), including any appeal therefrom, by
reason of the fact that he or she, or a person of whom he or she is the legal
representative, is or was a director or officer of the corporation or of a
direct or indirect subsidiary of the corporation, or is or was serving at the
request of the corporation as a director of officer of another entity or
enterprise, or was a director or officer of a foreign or domestic corporation
which was predecessor corporation of the corporation or of another entity or
enterprise at the request of such predecessor corporation, shall be indemnified
and held harmless by the corporation, and the corporation shall advance all
expenses incurred by any such person in defense of any such proceeding prior to
its final determination, to the fullest extent authorized by the General
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.  In any proceeding against the
corporation to enforce these rights, such person shall be presumed to be
entitled to indemnification and the 

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corporation shall have the burden of proving that such person has not met the
standards of conduct for permissible indemnification set forth in the General
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. The rights to indemnification and
advancement of expenses conferred by this Article VII shall be presumed to have
been relied upon by the directors and officers of the corporation in serving or
continuing to serve the corporation and shall be enforceable as contact rights.
Said rights shall not be exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking
indemnification may otherwise be entitled. The corporation may, upon written
demand presented by a director or officer of the corporation or of a direct or
indirect subsidiary of the corporation, or by a person serving at the request of
the corporation as a director or officer of another entity or enterprise, enter
into contracts to provide such persons with specified rights to indemnification,
which contracts may confer rights and protections to the maximum extent
permitted by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended
and in effect from time to time.

          1.  If a claim under this Article VII is not paid in full by the
corporation within sixty (60) days after a written claim has been received by
the corporation, the claimant may at any time thereafter bring suit against the
corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim and, if successful in
whole or in part, the claimant shall be entitled to be paid also the expenses of
prosecuting such claim.  It shall be a defense to any such action (other than an
action brought to enforce the right to be advanced expenses incurred in
defending any proceeding prior to its final disposition where the required
undertaking, if any, has been tendered to the corporation) that the claimant has
not met the standards of conduct which make it permissible under the General
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware for the corporation to indemnify the
claimant for the amount claimed, but the claimant shall be presumed to be
entitled to indemnification and the corporation shall have the burden of proving
that the claimant has not met the standards of conduct for permissible
indemnification set forth in the General Corporation Law of the Sate of
Delaware.

          2.  If the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware is
hereafter amended to permit the corporation to provide broader indemnification
rights than said Law permitted the corporation to provide prior to such
amendment, the indemnification rights conferred by this Article VII shall be
broadened to the fullest extent permitted by the General Corporation Law of the
State of Delaware, as so amended.

     D.   Any repeal or modification of any of the foregoing provisions of this
Article VII, including without limitation, any contractual rights arising under
or authorized by it, shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a
director, officer, agent or other person existing at the time of, or increase
the liability of any director of the corporation with respect to any acts or
omissions of such director, officer or agent occurring prior to such repeal or
modification.

                                      VII.

     A.   The corporation reserves the right to amend, alter, change or repeal
any provision contained in this Certificate of Incorporation, in the manner now
or hereafter prescribed by statute, except as provided in paragraph B. of this
Article VIII, and all rights conferred upon the stockholders herein are granted
subject to this reservation.

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     B.   Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Certificate of
Incorporation or any provision of law which might otherwise permit a lesser vote
or no vote, but in addition to any affirmative vote of the holders of any
particular class or series of the Voting Stock required by law, this Certificate
of Incorporation or any Preferred Stock Designation, the affirmative vote of the
holders of at least sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66-2/3%) of the voting
power of all of the then-outstanding shares of the Voting Stock, voting together
as a single class, shall be required to alter, amend or repeal Articles V, VI,
and VII.

     In Witness Whereof, the undersigned has executed this certificate on
October 28, 1996.


                                        /s/ Elizabeth C. Cook
                                        ----------------------------------------
                                        Elizabeth C. Cook
                                        Vice President

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