Whole Foods Market has appointed its former North Atlantic region president Jeff Turnas as UK president in an attempt to turn around the fortunes of the UK operations.
The organic retailer has split UK operations off from its North Atlantic region, with Turnas' new role part of a wider reorganisation.
Turnas has been president of the North Atlantic region since November 2007, after holding various positions in the company.
One analyst claimed his appointment showed Whole Foods was addressing issues of "severe economic contraction" in the UK. "The sparkling, massive store in Kensington has been among Whole Foods's most visible over-expansions," said Scott Mushkin of Jefferies. "Sources continue to report poor traffic in Kensington, meaning Whole Foods could be under pressure there for some time. Still, Turnas may at least staunch the bleeding."
An industry source added that Whole Foods was simply "shuffling the deck chairs", and Turnas would have to "demonstrate Whole Foods Market can hold up in an economic downturn" and convince the savvy shopper to choose the "pure-play premium retailer" despite the "lack of parking facilities".
Whole Foods, which rebranded its four-strong London-based organic retail chain Fresh & Wild in January, would face problems pulling out of the UK, he added, because it could have long leases on stores.
Last summer, Whole Foods revealed an $18.4m pre-tax operating loss on its UK-based stores, including Kensington, which opened two years ago.
Announcing its first-quarter results last week, Whole Foods Market admitted the store accounted for half of the company's 2% fall in return on invested capital in stores less than two years old. "We believe there is great growth potential in the UK and we are taking steps to improve operations there," said chairman John Mackey.
The retailer revealed a 1% increase in total sales to $2.5bn in the 16 weeks to 18 January. However, like-for-like sales fell 4.2%.
The organic retailer has split UK operations off from its North Atlantic region, with Turnas' new role part of a wider reorganisation.
Turnas has been president of the North Atlantic region since November 2007, after holding various positions in the company.
One analyst claimed his appointment showed Whole Foods was addressing issues of "severe economic contraction" in the UK. "The sparkling, massive store in Kensington has been among Whole Foods's most visible over-expansions," said Scott Mushkin of Jefferies. "Sources continue to report poor traffic in Kensington, meaning Whole Foods could be under pressure there for some time. Still, Turnas may at least staunch the bleeding."
An industry source added that Whole Foods was simply "shuffling the deck chairs", and Turnas would have to "demonstrate Whole Foods Market can hold up in an economic downturn" and convince the savvy shopper to choose the "pure-play premium retailer" despite the "lack of parking facilities".
Whole Foods, which rebranded its four-strong London-based organic retail chain Fresh & Wild in January, would face problems pulling out of the UK, he added, because it could have long leases on stores.
Last summer, Whole Foods revealed an $18.4m pre-tax operating loss on its UK-based stores, including Kensington, which opened two years ago.
Announcing its first-quarter results last week, Whole Foods Market admitted the store accounted for half of the company's 2% fall in return on invested capital in stores less than two years old. "We believe there is great growth potential in the UK and we are taking steps to improve operations there," said chairman John Mackey.
The retailer revealed a 1% increase in total sales to $2.5bn in the 16 weeks to 18 January. However, like-for-like sales fell 4.2%.
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