CEO Musical Chairs At A&P Continues As Ron Marshall Is Replaced By Sam Martin

A&P late last month abruptly replaced Ron Marshall as president and chief executive officer with Sam Martin, who most recently was chief operating officer of OfficeMax.

Marshall, the third CEO at the Tea Company in the past nine months, leaves the troubled retailer after only five months on the job. He had replaced former CEO Eric Claus, who was dispatched last October. Martin will report to executive chairman Christian Haub.

In making the announcement, Haub said, “The board and the company’s major shareholders, Tengelmann and Yucaipa, have been instrumental in developing what I believe is the right turnaround strategy for A&P. As we moved to the implementation and execution stage of this comprehensive operational and revenue-driven turnaround, the board determined that the company needed a leader at the helm with the skill set Sam Martin possesses. Sam is a proven, hands on operational expert in the food retail industry. He has an ideal mix of food industry management experience encompassing operations, merchandising and supply chain. We are confident that he will successfully drive the rapid implementation of our multi-faceted effort to make A&P a stronger and more efficient company. We thank Ron Marshall for his service and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

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Martin has more than three decades of management experience in the food retail industry with increasing operational responsibility. He also has a link to the Yucaipa Cos., which over the past year has assumed more responsibility in the management of the long troubled retailer and has increased its stake in the Tea Company to 28 percent.

Martin spent 24 years with Fred Meyer (which Yucaipa acquired in 1997 and sold to Kroger in 2004) rising to the position of VP-regional sales director. He has also held executive posts with Toys ‘R Us, Shopko and Wild Oats. In his most recent role as COO of OfficeMax, a position he held since 2007, he was responsible for all domestic and international contract and retail merchandising operations of the company, supply chain and communications.

Martin commented on his new position: “I am thrilled to be joining A&P and to have the opportunity to lead the company’s turnaround effort at this important time in its history. I look forward to working with the board, Christian and A&P’s talented associates to quickly execute on the opportunities for improving our performance in the near term and to put the company on a solid foundation for the future.”