AUSTIN, Texas — Whole Foods Market here led the field of food retailers tracked by SN in 2009 with a stock gain of about 192% during the year.
The company, which had been one of the poorest stock performers in the previous few years, recovered some of its lost value as it completed the acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, cut costs to preserve margins, stabilized sales slippage and slowed its expansion pace.
Overall performance among food retailers was mixed, with the big three traditional players — Kroger Co., Supervalu and Safeway — all down for the year, by about 22.2%, 11.7% and 9.8%, respectively.
In addition to Whole Foods, other gainers included A&P, up 91.4%; United Natural Foods Inc., up 52.2%; Target Corp., up 42%; and Delhaize Group, up 22%.
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