On Monday, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jana Partners, an activist hedge fund, revealed they had obtained an 8.8% stock in Whole Foods Market and intended on proposing ways to fix the markets “chronic underperformance.”

In the filing, Jana Partners listed seven points, such as board and senior managements composition, brand development including loyalty and analytics, in-store execution including labor scheduling and management, layout, private label and in-store signage, procurement and distribution arrangements, shrink, stock performance, strategic alternatives review, and real estate and capitol allocation strategies that the hedge fund wanted to address and even added that the market has been “unwilling to engage in discussions with third parties” regarding any alternatives.

Jana Partners also proposed, new board members, which include Genn Murphy a former Gap CEO, Meredith Adler a former grocery analyst, and Tad Dickson a former Harris Teeter CEO, who all “collectively possess significant operational, financial and nutritional expertise, including, for some of the other reporting persons, experience creating significant shareholder value in the food and grocery sectors."

Posted on WholeFoods Magazine Online, 4/14/17