How tech icon Meg Whitman is already leaving her mark on grocery giant Albertsons

It’s never a good sign when a company pulls its financial forecasts mid-turnaround.

But Albertsons did just that on Tuesday in the first clear sign of how deeply newly appointed Executive Chairman Meg Whitman plans to overhaul the struggling grocery chain.

Albertsons—which in addition to its namesake stores operates another 21 chains including Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Tom Thumb, and Randalls—said that net sales slipped to $18.9 billion in its second fiscal quarter, led by a 0.8% drop in identical sales, a metric that strips out newly closed or open stores.

It was the second quarterly drop in a row, following shrinking growth in the preceding quarter.

Albertsons CEO Susan Morris announced a plan in July called “ACI Edge” aimed at improving the company’s competitiveness by reviewing its strategy, cost structure, operations and portfolio of brands.

On Tuesday, the company said it was pulling its financial forecasts until that review is over.

That suggests that Albertsons may be eying a deeper turnaround than initially planned under Whitman, the longtime tech executive who joined Albertsons last month.

“Everything should be on the table,” Whitman told Wall Street analysts on Albertsons’ quarterly conference call.

“Dramatic improvement is needed now.

Albertsons must move faster to change the trajectory of the business.” Like all grocers, Albertsons has been struggling with cash-strapped shoppers rammed by food inflation and higher gas prices cutting back their spending on non-essentials.

But Albertsons also has a cost structure higher than that of its rivals, leaving less room to maneuver to shield consumers from higher prices than discount grocers like Walmart and Kroger or bulk operators like Sam’s Club and Costco.

While Whitman has no grocery experience and little retail experience (from her time as CEO of eBay), she was brought in by Albertsons for her turnaround chops and decisiveness.

As the new CEO of HP in 2011, she simplified the structure and product portfolio of a company that had been damaged by the Autonomy acquisition, was doing strategy flip flops, and had suffered from declining revenue and margins.

She oversaw the split of the company into two.