Personnel Updates:
Ahold USA announced the appointment of Anthony Hucker as President of the division, also known as Giant-Landover. Hucker will replace Don Sussman, who has served as the division’s interim president since the end of last year and will assume the role of Exec VP supply chain for Ahold USA. Ahold has appointed Jeff Carr as CFO and Exec VP, effective 11-12-2011. He will become a member of Ahold’s Corporate Executive Board, pending shareholder approval. He will succeed Kimberly Ross who is leaving Ahold in November 2011 to become CFO of Avon.
Ahold USA said that Bhavdeep Singh will transition from his current role as Exec VP of HR to a new position as Exec VP of Operations.
Associated Food Stores said that Richard A. Parkinson will retire as President and CEO on 11-10-2011. He will be succeeded by Neal Berube, who has been serving as the company’s Exec VP and is its former CFO.
Atlas Oil has announced additions to its executive team. Shawn Ryan, formerly director of the Atlas Oil’s DELTA Process Improvement team, has been promoted to VP Operations. Ryan will also join the company’s senior leadership team. In addition, Atlas has hired Michael Loomis as Director of Sales Operations.
BI-LO LLC has hired Joan Miszak as SVP of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness and Bruce Steadman as Group VP Center Store reporting to Mike Byars,
President and CEO.
Brookshire Brothers has named Clay Oliver as its new CFO and promoted five other executives at the company. Keith Williams was named VP of petroleum and convenience store operations. Jessica Brown was named VP of accounting. The company also named Jule Tatum Fenley as General Counsel. Bryan Tyler was named Director of Treasury and Greg Huggins was named Director of Internal Audit.
Brookshire Grocery Co. said that Trent Brookshire has been promoted to SVP and division manager, and Kevin Fridinger has been promoted to VP and division manager.
Golub Corporation/Price Chopper Supermarkets said it has named Mike DeJulio Director of corporate brands, reporting directly to Angelo Cannistraci, Group VP Center Store, Pharmacy and Senior Merchandising Coordinator. Sharon Gerasia, the company’s Manager of Associate Relations – Retail, has been promoted to the position of Director of Associate Relations-Retail.
EZ Energy announced that Joe Schag has been promoted to Controller. Tiffany Konkol joins EZ Energy as the payroll and treasury specialist. Also joining EZ Energy as the new Director of HR is Michelle Weckstein.
FMI named Joe McKie to the new position VP of private brands. McKie was vice president of own brands at Winn-Dixie Stores and worked 15 years at Daymon Worldwide.
Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative said that Bill Turner has been named Director of Produce Operations.
Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores has added two new members to its executive leadership team. Chad Lusk takes the position of Chief Strategy Officer, while Derek Gaskins will serve as SVP of marketing and merchandising. Both appointments represent new executive positions within the MACS leadership team.
The Pantry announced the retirement of Terrance Marks and the appointment of Edwin Holman, chairman of the Pantry’s Board, to take the helm as Interim CEO.
Safeway Inc. announced that Dr. Kent Bradley has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer, a newly created position focused on further enhancing and building Safeway’s reputation as a health care innovator.
Stater Bros. Markets has promoted Dan Meyer to the new position of SVP of Operations.
Financial Focus:
United Natural Foods Inc. reported fiscal 2011 sales of $4.53 billion.
Winn-Dixie Inc. reported fiscal 2011 sales of $6.88 billion.
Mergers and Acquisitions:
Year to date, 7-Eleven has added more than 400 new locations. The company has agreed to acquire the retail interests of 28 locations from Pacific Convenience & Fuels LLC (PC&F).
Homeland Stores acquired four Super Save Food stores in north Texasfrom independent owner William “Bill” Kiker.
The Wilson Farms Inc. convenience store chain, acquired by 7-Eleven Inc. earlier this year, has begun its transition to its new brand. A handful of the 188 locations have begun f
lying the 7- Eleven banner. Of those where remodeling is under way, contractors are at work renovating sites, aisles are being configured and 7-Eleven’s iconic drinks–Big Gulp and Slurpee–are making their debut.The change, which many local consumers regard as a nostalgic loss, means the decades-old Wilson Farms brand will soon cease to exist.
Industry Insight:
A&P opened its new Superfresh store, featuring a full-service pharmacy and expanded international offerings, in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood.
The Myers Group, operator of four IGA stores in WA, opened its fifth unit, the first full-service market in downtown Tacoma, WA. The 16,600-square-foot Tacoma City Grocer IGA will be located in a former city parking garage that was redeveloped into an office and retail space. The other four Myers-owned IGA stores are located in downtown Seattle, Camano Island, Ocean Shores and Snoqualmie Ridge.
Real Estate:
ALDI, which has more than 1,100 stores in 31 states, has been remodeling older stores to bring them in line with newer stores in the small-format chain. A Chicagostore was closed for 11 weeks for a $1 million renovation that includes a higher ceiling and more natural light
Heinen’s Fine Foods plans to open a store in Barrington ILnext summer, marking the 17-store chain’s first foray outside northeast OH. Jeff and Tom Heinen, who own the 82-year-old Cleveland-based company, said they plan to open multiple stores in the greater Chicago area.
Fresh Encounter, Inc. is seeking growth opportunities are sought throughout its existing markets during the next 18 months. The supermarkets occupy spaces of 9,000 sq. ft. to 36,000 sq. ft. in freestanding locations, strip centers and downtown areas.
Marsh Supermarkets plans to spend $60 million over the next three years to build up to 10 new stores and remodel others.
Niemann Foods, Inc. is seeking new store location sites throughout its current markets throughout IA, IL and MO for its County Marketand Save-A-Lot formats. The supermarkets occupy spaces of 18,000 sq. ft. to 60,000 sq. ft. in freestanding locations, strip centers and downtown areas.
Schnuck Markets, which earlier this month sold a handful of Memphis area stores to rival Kroger Co. again dealt with the company by acquiring seven Hilander stores in Rockford, Ill. from Kroger. Schnucks said it would operate the stores under the Hilander banner, at least initially.
Technology News:
Big Y announced earlier this month that it plans to phase out the use of self-service checkout lanes across all of its stores.
Whole Foods Market has launched Giftango’s enterprise digital gift card and stored value promotions platform to extend its e-commerce gifting capabilities.
Green Initiatives:
Food Lion LLC announced that two stores in Fayetteville NChave been awarded LEED Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market added doors to medium-temperature refrigerators at 35 stores and plans to expand the program to 170 locations. The glass doors reportedly save more than 100,000 kilowatt hours a year and cut shrink by 50%
Murphy USA unveiled its first electric vehicle (EV) charging station at a Murphy Express location in Chattanooga, Tenn.While this is only a pilot test, Murphy USA said that it plans to incorporate these units in other stations in the future.
Flying J Truckstops has will install anti-idling power pedestals at six Pilot Flying J truck stops in the US from Shorepower Technologies.
Sheetz Inc.said it plans to build and operate a network of electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations at 5 Sheetz locations in PA with the help of 350Green, a developer of EV charging station networks. Customers will be able to take advantage of what the convenience retailer said are the first direct-current (DC) fast chargers installed at U.S.gas
stations. The locations include Lancaster, Mechanicsburg, Mifflintown, State College and York, PA.
Sprout’s Farmers Market won an award for having the Best Emissions Rate — the lowest rate of refrigerant leaks over the previous calendar year — from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership.