Ahold USA earlier this month completed the largest (in terms of personnel) segment of its decentralized integration plan when it announced its category management and operations teams at its three divisions (brands) – Giant Food, Giant/Martin’s and Stop & Shop. Those changes become effective January 1, 2018 when the Dutch-owned merchant unveils its new go-to-business model featuring a more localized brand structure.
Earlier this year, a Retail Business Services (RBS) unit was created to supervise many corporate and administrative functions for both Ahold USA and Delhaize America, the U.S. units of Ahold Delhaize which completed their merger in July 2016. RBS is headed by veteran AUSA executive Roger Wheeler.
This recent announcement of its “Wave B” decentralized plan structure applies primarily to Ahold USA. Delhaize America’s two operating banners – Food Lion and Hannaford – had already realigned over the past two years and AUSA’s new lineup (including job titles) resembles that which previously had been put in place in Salisbury, NC (Food Lion) and Scarborough, ME (Hannaford).
Those Ahold USA merchandising and operations decisions came after the big retailer held two weeks of “outcome” meetings in late September reportedly involving about 2,000 merchandising and operations-related associates, both at current corporate headquarters in Carlisle and at the divisions, to ultimately determine if current merchandising and store operations associates would be offered positions in the new brand-centric structure and what those new positions would be.
At Giant/Martin’s, where Nick Bertram will become president on January 1 succeeding the retiring Tom Lenkevich, the new merchandising and store operations lineup has been finalized as:
Reporting to John Ruane, SVP-merchandising, will be: Dave Lessard, VP-fresh; Denise Mullen, VP-center store; Leigh Shirley, director-pharmacy; Rebecca Lupfer, director-merchandising planning; Steven Kruger, director-pricing and promotions; Kelly Krutz, director-profitability; and Darice Fitzpatrick, administrative assistant.
Reporting to Lessard will be: Steve Allison, director-meat and seafood, and his category managers Bryan Beck, Jim Brinser and Patrick Sanagursky, as well as Dave Copenhaver, manager-field merchandising; Brian Lorenz, director-deli/bakery, and his category managers Dan Laviola, Taneya Clark and Rob Palmeri as well as manager-field merchandising Mike Strayer; and Chris Keetch, director-produce/floral, and his category managers Robert Backer, Josh Geyer, Matt Novosel and Kevin Prill, as well as Josh Erb, manager-field merchandising.
Reporting to Mullen will be: Sheila Kostiuk, director-center store, and her category managers Becky Shipp, Tracy Dabrowski and Henry Weber (there is currently one additional open position for category manager); Deb Kreider, director-center store, and her category managers Karen Brassel, Jennifer Scott, Summer Monnett, Megan Barrouk and John Boyle; Kyle Kirkpatrick, director-center store, and his category managers Darla Rieg and Chad Kyllonen (there are currently two open positions for category manager); and Morgan Shreiber, director-field center store.
Reporting to Matt Simon, VP-marketing, will be: Michael Raimo, director-marketing operations; April Mock, director-brand management; Chris Brand, director-external communication and community relations; Robert Welsh, director-loyalty and digital; Sarah Glunz, supervisor-nutritionists; and Sandy Weibley, administrative assistant.
Reporting to Manuel Haro, VP-strategy and planning, will be: Daren Russ, director-strategy and innovation; and Sharon Eiswert, manager-consumer insights.
Reporting to John Ponnett, SVP-retail operations, will be: Dave Liptok, VP-store support, and his team: Brian Wanner, director-deployment; Ron Hawes, director-labor and productivity; Mindy Miller-Dowling, director-asset protection; Bob Salvatori, manager-front end operations; Colin Heap, manager-inventory operations; specialists-fuel maintenance and regulations Carl Berlin and Laura Berghold; and Lynsay Danley, administrative assistant. Also reporting to Ponnett will be: district directors Luke Dreese, Rodney Allen, Sepideh Burkett, Steve Angle, Tim Santoro, Paul Madarieta, Ron Bagley, Wendy Zahradka, Fred Morgan, Bill Bruderer, Jim Mullen and Angie Heck.
At Stop & Shop, where Mark McGowan remains president, the new merchandising and store operations lineup is:
Reporting to Mark Messier, EVP merchandising, will be: Kerri Aguilo, SVP-category management for center store; Pat Dwyer, VP-merchandising planning; Brian Pavur, director- pharmacy operations; Loren Johnson, VP-price and promotion; Jack Keane, director-profitability; as well as open positions for SVP-category management of fresh and assortment analyst, which will report to SVP-fresh.
Reporting to Harry Giglio, VP-category management-meat/seafood, will be: managers-field merchandising Ken Mirando, Mike Ferrante and Alphonse Apuzzo; two open category manager positions in beef/lamb/veal and pork/poultry; Elizabeth Grant, category manager-seafood; and Wilson Dos Santos, category manager-frozen meat/seafood/packaged.
Reporting to Tracy Waterman, VP-category management for deli/bakery will be: managers-field merchandising Joe Cabral and Rob Harman, as well as one open field manager position; open positions for category manager-deli/cheese and ready-made meals; Mike Vachon, category manager-bakery; and Jolene Medeiros, category manager-specialty deli.
Reporting to Brian Fleming, VP-category management for produce/floral, will be: manager-field merchandising Brian Betesh, as well as two additional open field manager posts; Joe Connolly, category-manager-fruit; Lynn Perry, category manager-vegetables; Peter Quinn, category manager-convenience; and Jack Wilson, category manager-floral.
Reporting to Aguilo will be: VPs-category manager-center store Maria Ruisi, Natalia Torres-Furtado and Joel Brissenden; directors-field merchandising Mike Pauley, Bob Dodge and Rob McGuirl.
Reporting to Torres-Furtado: Jeremy Weldon, category manager-snacks/commercial bake; Randi Laflamme, category manager-DSD/warehouse beverages; Sam Andrade, category manager-liquor/tobacco; Paul Bender, category manager-ethnic and specialty; as well as an open position for assortment analyst.
Reporting to Brissenden will be: Tom Regan, category manager-main meal 1; Romina Rinaldi, category manager-main meal 2; Diana Sorafine, category manager-breakfast and baking; Christine McCormack, category manager-frozen; Michelle Merchant, category manager-dairy; and two open positions for assortment analyst.
Reporting to Ruisi will be: Jacek Bartoszewicki, category-manager pet/baby; Craig Souza, category manager-seasonal/candy; Guy Olson, category manager-household/paper; Ed Attubato, category manager-healthcare; Carolyn Walsh, category manager-beauty care; as well as an open assortment analyst position.
Reporting to Whitney Hardy, SVP-marketing, will be: open positions for VP-loyalty and digital and VP-marketing strategy and planning; Janine Mudge, director-marketing operations; and Phil Tracey, director-external communications and community relations.
Reporting to Glenn Hogan, VP-store support, will be: Jacqui Buckley, director-deployment; Dale Duquette, director-asset protection; Gary Pinto, manager-front end operations; Ken Silvia and Scott Lapham, specialists-fuel maintenance and regulations; Dave Picano and Rocco DiTullio, managers-inventory operations; Lynn Scavullo, director-labor productivity; Chris Aziz, manager-store communications; Lynne Damaschi-Gelineau, coordinator store communications; and Scott Logan, analyst-store support.
Reporting to Sonja Boelhouwer, VP-strategy and planning, will be: open positions for director-consumer insights and manager-store format; Melissa Hughes, director-strategy and innovation.
At Giant Food, where Gordon Reid continues as president, the new merchandising and store operation lineup is:
Reporting to Tonya Herring, SVP-merchandising, will be: Rick Manzi, VP-category management for fresh; Michael Weinstock, VP-category management for center store; Erik Weenink, director-price and promotion; Frank Gallagher, director-merchandising planning; Paul Zvaleny, director-pharmacy ops; and Chris Carrado, manager-shrink.
Reporting to Manzi will be: Al Rivero, director-produce/floral (and his market manager-floral Dave Chisholm); Bill Campbell, director-meat/seafood (and his market managers Scott Grove-meat and Lisa Guinther-seafood); Paul Chapman, director-deli/bakery (and his market manager-deli/bakery Donna Souris).
Reporting to Weinstock will be: director-center store field Cipriano Andrade, director-center store Greg Bibbs (and his marketing managers-center store Monica Simmons-Dolce and Daniel Wiggington), director-DSD/ethnic Diane Couchman (and her market managers – Jeff Pygott-beer and wine, Eric McCormick-DSD and Cynthia Volk-ethnic/specialty); and one open position for director-GM HBC (reporting to the director-GM HBC will be Susan Beach-market manager for non-food).
Reporting to John MacDonald, VP-marketing will be: Gregg Dorazio, director-brand management; Felis Andrade, director-external communications and community relations; Kurt Guinther, director-marketing operations; and an open position for director-loyalty and digital. Reporting to Mark Adamcik, VP-brand strategy, will be two open positions for director-strategy and innovation and manager-consumer insights.
Reporting to the currently open position of manager-consumer insights will be Gregory Park, analyst-business insights.
Reporting to Ira Kress, SVP-retail operations, will be: Robert Belcher, VP-regional ops, and his district directors Timothy Baker, Jason Raborg, Clay Rolfe, Kevin Timmons and Jeff Lewis; Toni Judy, VP-regional ops, and her district directors Bob Hass, Mike Long, Amy McAllister-Flynn, Deanna Marion-Wilson and Betsy Myers; Mike Brenton, director-asset protection; Bob Bennett, director-store support; Gary Budd, director-deployment; Eric Smith, director-labor and productivity; Gary Stout, manager-inventory ops.
While the alignment of category managers, category directors, market managers, regional operations VPs and district directors is generally uniform among the three divisions, there are nuances that exist.
For example, at Giant Food (Landover), there are fewer category managers and directors than at the other two divisions and sources have told us that Stop & Shop will support some of the merchandising functions for Giant Food from its Quincy, MA headquarters.
As Ahold has noted in the past, “Wave B” represents an investment in the brands and commercial functions in order to become more brand-centric and ensure future success.
The retailer stated that Ahold USA and RBS are investing in and building organizations that support customer connected strategies and operations.
Most of the roles that were announced will generally not be effective until the beginning of 2018.
AUSA also revealed that with the “Wave B” staffing and selection process for incumbent associates completed, there are some remaining open roles. These roles will be posted in the coming weeks.
For a number of the commercial teams, a sequenced phased transition approach is planned, with a small number of teams beginning soft launches in late October and the “stand-up” continuing through Q1 of 2018. This approach, Ahold USA noted, will allow teams to continue focusing on delivering the day-to-day as associates and teams transition to new roles and ways of working. Timelines for the phased transition will differ by function, and information will be shared with the appropriate teams as decisions are made.
Next, AUSA said it will tackle the last phase of its integration process when it begins its “Wave C” “outcome” meetings on October 23 with associates in IT, legal, people systems and services, finance, supply chain and communications. All those areas will fall under the RBS umbrella.
At the brand level, “Wave C” will focus on human resources, finance, fresh formats and quality assurance. Those outcomes decisions should be completed in early November.
The retailer also noted that RBS will maintain functions in each of the current five key office areas (Quincy, Salisbury, Carlisle, Scarborough and Greenville), and RBS associates will also be located at other locations. The long-term goal is for RBS associates who are supporting specific brands, including those transitioning from roles currently in a support office, to be located at brand headquarters or regional offices close to their stores.
