Meg Ham has been named the new president of Food Lion effective November 1. She succeeds Beth Newlands Campbell, who is leaving the company for personal and professional reasons.
“We are extremely pleased to tap into internal talent to ensure a seamless transition of Food Lion operations to Meg Ham,” said Kevin Holt, CEO of Delhaize America, who oversees the Salisbury, NC chain which operates more than 1,100 stores in 10 Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states and employs more than 63,000 associates. “I have full confidence in Meg to continue to lead Food Lion’s transformation and to deliver on the company’s ‘Easy, Fresh and Affordable…You Can Count on Food Lion Every Day’ strategy to enhance the customer shopping experience. Meg has an extensive retail operations and merchandising background with a strong focus on the customer experience and associate engagement.”
Ham will lead all Food Lion banner operations, including strategic direction, financial performance, product assortment, pricing, customer service and marketing. She will continue to report to Holt.
“I’m honored to take on this new role at Food Lion, a company that I have been passionate about for many years,” said Ham. “I look forward to maintaining our positive momentum at Food Lion by continuing to deploy our new strategy, serving our customers well and caring for our communities through ‘Food Lion Feeds.’ ”
Previously, Ham served as president of Bottom Dollar Food, which is currently reportedly looking to divest its approximately 70 stores in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets. She joined Delhaize America in 1988 and has held a wide range of leadership roles at both Food Lion and Hannaford.
“I want to thank Beth for her 27 years of service at both Food Lion and Hannaford,” added Holt. “She has led significant improvements at Food Lion during the past two years, with a strong focus on enhancing the customer shopping experience and ensuring that Food Lion’s communities can count on us through our Food Lion Feeds hunger relief efforts. I know our associates join me in wishing Beth and her family all the best in the future.”
Newlands Campbell joined Hannaford, Food Lion’s sister banner based in Maine, as a retail management trainee. During her tenure, she held a variety of leadership positions, from store manager to company president.
Food Lion will continue to deliver its “Easy, Fresh and Affordable…You Can Count on Food Lion Every Day’ strategy with 45 remodeled stores which was launched on November 12 in the Greenville, NC market.
In other Delhaize America news, Gene Faller, VP-operations for Bottom Dollar Food, will assume leadership responsibilities for the banner. JJ Fleeman, currently senior vice president of Food Lion Strategy, has been promoted to Delhaize America’s chief strategy and development officer. Faller and Fleeman will report to Holt.