Whole Foods bared its growth plans saying that it is interested to buy some of the Albertsons stores. The company’s chairman and chief executive John Mackey told analysts during a conference call that the retailer needs to push its “initiatives over the next 12 to 24 months…”

“The competition will be chasing our shadow pretty soon,” Mackey said, adding that the retailer will speed up its strategic plans in the next few 24 months to differentiate its stores from the competition. Mackey stopped from mentioning detailed plans but said the initiatives will cover programmes in private label and procurement. Jim Sud, executive vice president of growth and development, added that Whole Foods expects to submit bids this week to Albertsons for some of the stores.

For the 12-week quarter Whole Foods’ net income rose 33.5 per cent to reach $53.9 million. Sales went up by 18.1 per cent to $1.3 billion. Comparable-store sales posted a 9.9 per cent growth. For the 40-week period, the retailer’s net income rose 28.9 per cent to $164 million, with sales growing by 20.4 per cent to $4.3 billion.