Johnston has pulled his team together from Safeway, Dell and Wal-Mart. Is it the right combination of creativity and experience?
Headquarters: 250 Parkcenter Blvd., P.O. Box 20, Boise, ID 83726
Phone: (208) 395-6200
Business: The nation's second-largest grocery and drugstore operator,
with about 2,300 stores in 31 states. Stores operate under the banners Albertsons,
Osco, Sav-on and Sav-on Drugs, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Max Foods and Super Saver Foods.
Chief Executive Officer: Larry Johnston
Chief Technology Officer: Robert Dunst, executive vice president
Financials: $35.6 billion in revenue for fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2003;
$485 million in net profit; earnings per share $1.22; EPS growth of -0.8% over
previous fiscal year.
Challenges: Boost profitability of existing stores, regain market share
and resolve labor issues. Keep Wal-Mart Stores from eating into its business.
Baseline Goals:
Achieve $750 million in cost savings by the end of 2004.
Maximize return on invested capital, currently at 6.2% a year.
Maintain number one or number two share of market in cities in which it operates, or have a plan for getting there.
Install 4,500 self-checkout terminals in stores, deploy a $50-million data warehouse and replace 75% of computer systems within five years.
Projects: Enterprise Planning 
