| |                                                                                                                                               | Exhibit 31.1
| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------
| | Certification of CEO
    Pursuant to
    18 U.S.C. Section 1350,
    As Adopted Pursuant to
    Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |             
| |                                                                                                                                               |             

|   | I, Perry D. Odak, Chief Executive
    Officer of Wild Oats Markets, Inc., certify that:                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
|-- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|1. | I have reviewed this report on
    Form 10-Q for the period ended June 26, 2004, of Wild Oats Markets, Inc.;                                                                                                                                                                                                          
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|2. | Based on my knowledge, this report
    does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
    necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
    statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|3. | Based on my knowledge, the
    financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly
    present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
    flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;                   
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|4. | The registrants other
    certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
    controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
    registrant and have:                                                                               
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|   | a)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|   | b)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
|   | c)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
|5. | The registrants other
    certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation, of internal
    control over financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit
    committee of the registrants board of directors (or persons performing the
    equivalent functions):      
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|   | a)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|   | b)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

|Date: August 5, 2004                   | 
|-------------------------------------- | 
|                                       | 
|                                       | 
|/s/ Perry D. Odak                      | 
|Perry D. Odak, Chief Executive Officer | 

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