Whole Foods has a big, basic problem it needs to solve

Whole Foods Market has known for some time that it is a business in need of course correction.

But its imperative to do so may have gotten more urgent this week, after an activist investor and some affiliates disclosed a nearly 9 percent stake in the company and urged it in a regulatory filing to explore dramatic moves to stage a turnaround, including possibly putting itself up for sale.

Jana Partners, the investor, encouraged the organic grocery chain to do a top-to-bottom reevaluation of its strategies and practices. Jana said it hoped to have discussions with Whole Foods management about everything from its real estate portfolio to customer analytics to inventory management and labor scheduling.

It remains to be seen which of those steps Whole Foods will take, and whether any of them will make a difference.

In a statement, the grocer said: “Whole Foods Market welcomes investment in the company and is open to the views and opinions of all of our shareholders. We value constructive dialogue toward our shared goals of creating shareholder value, successfully executing on our strategic priorities and taking actions that will position the company for continued success.”

One thing, though, seems hard to ignore: Jana has a point. The retailer saw a 2.5 percent decline in comparable sales last year, a measure of sales at stores open at least a year. Its forecast for 2017 isn’t too cheery, either; the company predicts it will deliver comparable sales of “-2.5 percent or better.”

That’s a concerning pattern for a chain that has every reason to be successful in this moment, in which shoppers are gravitating toward healthy food, and when an increasing share of the grocery industry’s sales are coming from the fresh items such as produce and meat that Whole Foods built its reputation on.