John Mackey to be Only CEO at Whole Foods

The current co-CEO Walter Robb will step down and leave Mackey to helm the company solo.

November 04, 2016

LOS ANGELES – Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey will resume his previous position as the only CEO of the high-end grocer, Reuters reports. Whole Foods has been facing more competition from a variety of retailers, with sales falling the past five quarters at established locations. Current co-CEO Walter Robb will step down at the end of the year, but stay on the board of directors and segue into being a senior advisor to Whole Foods.

Mackey will focus on turning the company around. “I like our positioning, but I’m not going to sugarcoat it ... We’ve got to up our game and that’s what we are intending to do,” Mackey said, but he didn’t elaborate on what those plans were.

Whether Mackey can reinvigorate the chain is left to be seen, but Roger Davidson, retail consultant at Oakton Advisory Group, applauded the change. “You need the vision and direction coming from one leader,” Davidson said. “They need to make some hard decisions and go with them.”

Mackey presented a general session on “conscious capitalism” at the 2015 NACS Show in Las Vegas. For a recap of the 2016 NACS Show, look for the November issue of NACS Magazine next week or visit NACS Magazine online. The 2017 NACS Show will be October 17-20 in Chicago.

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