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GOURMET NEWS JULY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com Retailer News RETAILER NEWS 1 7 BRIEFS Suzy Monford Named Chief Executive Officer for Andronico's Community Markets Local grocery store chain Andronico's Community Markets (ACM), based in California's East Bay with five stores throughout the Bay Area, has named one of the grocery industrys leading innova- tors as CEO to head up the historic brand. Suzy Monford, CEO and Founder of Food Sport International, is recognized for her ability to innovate across key global growth markets including grocery, lifestyle retailing and health/fitness. Monford most recently held the role of Head of Innovation for Woolworth's, the largest retailer in Asia Pacific, where she was recruited to lead strategic change and international joint ventures. Previously she founded Food Sport International, working with Coles Supermarkets in Australia as her primary client. Other clients include Cheers Inc., a restaurant corporation in Texas, where she worked as CEO/Presi- dent. A certified health coach, Monford has served on the executive board of directors for both the San Antonio Mayor's Fitness Council and the YMCA, and actively teaches fitness and health in her commu- nity. "At Andronico's, one of our core mer- chant principles is to build healthy com- munities while we build our business. We believe that you can do well, by doing good. To that end, I'll be introducing a new innovative approach to health and wellness that is a major departure from the role that the supermarket industry has tra- ditionally played. Fitness – in all aspects from kitchen to shopping to cooking to dining – will be the way ACM delivers on its promise to advocate for community and our own corporate health. We'll pio- neer recipes for fit living for our shoppers and teammates." Monford takes on the role at ACM as the company looks to continue its resurgence as an innovator in the San Francisco Bay Area specialty food retail. "I'm honored to have the opportunity to continue the Andronico's legacy," said Monford. "We were born in Berkeley in 1929, and today we remain an original American market whose success has been built on dedication to quality, unique- ness, service and neighborhood. We were "local" before it was a thing. We were fo- cused on small producers before artisanal became a tag line to rationalize high re- tails." Monford's plans include innovating store formats with eventual store expansion and embracing and utilizing the latest technol- ogy available in the grocery industry to drive value, convenience and to energize the shopping experience. "We may be a small company, but we'll be brilliant with data and digital," Monford added. We're going to marry traditional brick and mortar mercantile, with best of class tech in order to create a relevant shop for today." Monford plans to develop new products and concepts throughout the Andronico's stores that will redefine value and serve each store's diverse community. Chief among her priorities is an emphasis on speed and convenience, including bringing on new delivery App Instacart throughout the chain by mid-summer, as well as devel- oping a new fitness and health-centric shopping portal for customers and team- mates. Andronico's Community Markets, a pri- vately owned grocery retailer offering a full range of specialty, organic and con- ventional groceries, began in Berkeley in 1929 and today has stores in Berkeley, San Francisco, San Anselmo and Los Altos. Many of the store's union employees have been with the company more than 20 years, some more than 40 years. ACM re- cently launched an e-commerce food store specializing in local and specialty foods of the Bay Area. GN Weis Markets will increase its starting hourly rate for newly hired Weis Markets' associates to $9 an hour on August 2. On this date, the company will also increase the minimum hourly rate for current hourly Weis associates to $9 an hour. The increase will benefit associates who work in the company's 163 stores. "For more than 100 years, we have worked hard to create opportunities and career advancement options at Weis Mar- kets for our associates. In recent years, we've made significant improvements to our training and development programs which are designed to help associates at all levels grow in their jobs and prepare for future opportunities in our organiza- tion," said Jonathan Weis, Weis Markets Chairman and CEO. "As part of our focus on associate development and satisfac- tion, we will increase our base hourly rate for Weis Markets' associates to $9 an hour beginning August 2. This new wage benchmark will not only benefit a signif- icant number our current associates, but it will also help us attract and retain tal- ented associates to deliver best-in-class customer service every day. It is also im- portant to note this move will have no im- pact on our prices." GN Weis Markets Increases Starting Hourly Rate To $9 Per Hour Mark Panzer has been named Senior Vice President of Pharmacy, Health & Wellness for Albertsons, overseeing the company's 1,760 pharmacies in 34 states across the country. Panzer replaces Darren Singer, who has left the company to pursue other opportunities. Panzer's retail career began at Osco Drug stores more than 40 years ago. He moved into roles in Regional Sales and Marketing and Regional Operations for the drug store chain, eventually serving as District Manager as well as Director and subsequently Vice President of Sales and Marketing with American Drug Stores. Those roles led to his being named Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Albertsons following its merger with American Stores in 1999. In 2001, Mark left the company to join Rite Aid as Exec- utive Vice President of Store Operations, and in 2005 was named Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Offi- cer for that company, leaving in 2008 to become President & CEO of Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Inc. "Mark understands and appreciates the entrepreneurial spirit that embodies how we go to market across our divisions, and we're thrilled that he's chosen to come back to our team," said Shane Sampson, Chief Marketing & Merchandising Officer for Albertsons. "Early on in his career, Mark was part of the team that helped de- fine what great customer service meant for pharmacy operations in a grocery com- pany. Moreover, he has proven himself to be an extraordinary leader throughout his career and is well respected throughout the industry. His extensive retail, sales, and marketing experience will be invalu- able to our Pharmacy team as we move forward with our goal to be the Favorite Local Supermarket™ for our customers and employees." GN Mark Panzer Named SVP Pharmacy, Health & Wellness for Albertsons Kroger Honored as a CIO 100 Winner for Technology Innovation The Kroger Co.'s innovative electronic temperature monitoring project was named a winner of the 2015 CIO 100 Award by International Data Group's CIO Magazine. Kroger's electronic temperature monitoring initiative, FAST (Food at Safe Temperature) Alerts, tracks cold and frozen food case temperatures and notifies store associates of temperature changes. Using interactive sensors that are connected through an in-store network, FAST Alerts helps ensure that fresh foods remain fresher, longer by making real-time temperature checks of produce, meat, deli and frozen food products. The technology also eliminates the need for manual temperature logs. Kroger and other winning companies will be recognized at The CIO 100 Symposium & Awards Ceremony in August in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Natural Grocers Opens Fourth Oklahoma Store Natural Grocers opened its fourth Oklahoma store in Edmond on Tuesday, June 30. Natural Grocers will provide the Edmond community with fresh produce that is exclusively USDA Certified Organic, as well as other healthy, affordable, organic and natural products. The store will feature a mix of national brands and locally-grown, raised and manufactured products from Oklahoma in a small, friendly environment. The Edmond store will also feature a Nutritional Health Coachand offer free nutrition education classes to the public. The Edmond location is one of 18 Natural Grocers stores expected to open in fiscal year 2015. Fresh Thyme Donates $5,000 to Local Causes Fresh Thyme Farmers Market donated $2,500 to both the Warren Sharpe Community Center and the Joliet Park District in Joliet, Illinois in conjunction with the grand opening of a new Joliet store on Wednesday, June 10. "Fresh Thyme is excited to be joining the Joliet community, and we look forward to serving our new neighbors through healthy, value-priced offerings," said CEO Chris Sherrell. "Our passion is improving the way our communities eat by making healthy, positive grocery shopping decisions easier and affordable." The Fresh Market Selects Zimmerman for Fresh Growth The Fresh Market, Inc. has selected Zimmerman, Omnicom's retail growth machine, as its new advertising agency. Zimmerman's responsibilities will include strategic planning, creative services, brand activation, media planning & buying (traditional and digital), internal campaign development and social media activation. "Our agency model is perfect for retail grocery and we could not be happier with The Fresh Market and working with this great brand to drive success," said Jordan Zimmerman, Founder and Chairman of Zimmerman Advertising. "Working together with their team, we expect The Fresh Market to not just continue their success, but leverage the power of Brandtailing ® to build on it."

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