More trouble is brewing for Woolworths after the parent company of arch rival Coles returns Michael Chaney to its board.
Mr Chaney played a key role in building Wesfarmers into the largest conglomerate on the Australian share market when he was the group's managing director between 1992 to 2005.
And analysts say his return as chairman to work alongside his successor, Wesfarmers' present MD Richard Goyder, will create a major headache for Woolworths.
"Mr Chaney oversaw Wesfarmers' share price move more than 800 per cent during his time as managing director," IG Markets market strategist Evan Lucas told AAP.
"He knows how to create a conglomerate. He was behind a lot of the company's strategic decisions, including building the Bunnings brand and plans to bring Coles into the portfolio.
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"Combined with Mr Goyder, they'll make a powerful team and create more headwinds for Woolworths."
OptionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said shareholders would undoubtedly be pleased with the move.
"It's a positive strategic move that'll bolster the leadership," he said.
"The share price is slightly down today because of wider market forces, but no doubt people will be looking kindly upon this move."
Mr Chaney will join the company's board as chairman-elect from June 1 while outgoing chairman Bob Every will step down from the position at the annual general meeting in November.
This comes after last week's announcement that Mr Chaney will step down as chairman of NAB at the bank's AGM in December.
Dr Every, who joined Wesfarmers' board in 2006 and became chairman in 2008, said Mr Chaney had the experience and skills to take the company forward.
The group's now core business, supermarket chain Coles, was not part of Wesfarmers until after Mr Chaney's reign in 2007.
Mr Chaney admitted the company had changed greatly during his 10-year absence.
"Over the last 10 years, Wesfarmers has grown enormously and very much retains the strong shareholder focus for which it has been well known," he said.
Coles is outperforming rival Woolworths with its latest quarterly food and liquor sales up 5.4 per cent, while Woolworths' sales climbed only 0.7 per cent.
However, the price war between the supermarket giants has also hurt Coles' profit margins.
Wesfarmers' shares closed 39 cents lower at $43.35 while Woolworths fell 24 cents to $27.14.
