DATATRAC

Personnel Updates

• Kehe Distributors appointed Timothy J. Wiggins CFO, succeeding Chris Meyers, who left earlier this year to join SpartanNash.

• Kroger announced that Dennis Gibson has been promoted to President of the company’s King Soopers division. Also announced was the retirement of Ralph’s division president Donna Giordano, with the promotion of Valerie Jabbar, currently VP of merchandising for Ralph’s as her successor.

• Festival Foods announced that it has named Brian W. Bauman General Counsel.

• Publix announced that President and Chairman of its Publix Charities foundation Carol Jenkins Barnett is stepping down from the Publix board of directors effective immediately due to health reasons.

• Roundy’s CEO Bob Marian will retire effective September 1st, 2016, parent company Kroger announced.

• Sobeys announced that it has named Lyne Castonguay, formerly Senior VP at Home Depot, as its new Chief Merchandising Officer.

• SUPERVALU said in a SEC filing that Mark Van Buskirk, Exec VP of Merchandising, Marketing, Retail and Pharmacy, will leave the company.

• Topco Associates announced that Anjani Bhargava has joined the company as Senior VP and Chief Human Resources Officer and that Danell O’Neill has been promoted to VP Corporate Communications.

Industry Insight

• Publix began a test program with Instacart that will provide Internet ordering and delivery in the Miami area.

• SUPERVALU announced it has entered into a long-term supply agreement with Marsh Supermarkets to serve as its primary grocery wholesaler and to provide certain professional services.

• Safeway announced a partnership with Quest Diagnostics to offer diagnostic testing in 12 Safeway locations.

• Save Mart Supermarkets announced plans to close one of its three corporate distribution centers fall 2016 while consolidating dry grocery into a center co-owned with Raley’s Supermarkets.

• Save Mart Supermarkets has officially changed its corporate name to The Save Mart Companies to reflect “the collective strength of the corporate entity” and the variety of banners under which it operates.

• Sprouts Farmers Market’s James L. Nielsen, President and COO, announced at an investors conference that the company is seeing “attractive sales lifts” from its home-delivery relationship with Amazon.

• SUPERVALU said in a public SEC filing that it will retain a 40% interest in Save-A-Lot as a result of the company’s planned spin-off, while the private label America’s Choice will become a “predominant” private brand.

Real Estate

• Hannaford Bros. opened a new prototype store in Bedford, NH. According to President Mike Vail, the 68,000-square-foot store focuses on features built around innovation and convenience.

• The Fresh Market has delayed the opening dates of four planned stores, according to local reports.

• Southeastern Grocers debuted a new Hispanic-focused brand name called Fresco y Más at a Winn-Dixie store in Hialeah, FL.

• Kroger’s integration of Roundy’s is tracking “on plan,” though it’s taking a little longer than expected to get the remodeling process started according to an announcement to investors from CEO W. Rodney McMullen.

• Kroger opened its first convenience store under the Kroger banner in College Station, TX.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Brookshire Grocery Co. announced that it has agreed to acquire 25 former Walmart Express stores and convert them to a new banner.

• CST Brands Inc. closed on its previously announced sale of 79 convenience stores in the California and Wyoming markets, purchased by a subsidiary of 7-Eleven Inc. CST will no longer operate stores in these two states; 76 of the c-stores are located in California with the remaining three in Wyoming.

• Fiesta Mart announced plans to buy all 11 Minyard Food Stores from RLS Supermarkets. The stores are all located in the Dallas area.

• Publix is among the buyers of some 86 locations that will be divested upon completion of the Ahold/Delhaize merger.

• Yoke’s Fresh Markets announced plans to acquire four grocery stores in the Spokane, WA region.

Green Initiatives

• Kroger announced plans to install energy-free exit signs at all new and renovated stores nationwide.