At Ahold USA, More Questions Than Answers
This isn’t the first editorial I’ve written about Ahold USA, and it certainly won’t be the last. And like previous opinion pieces, much of what I’ve got to write is about company culture.
But first, after analyzing AUSA’s fourth quarter and FY 2014 financial results, there’s no question from a measurable metrics perspective that the company’s 768 supermarkets are trending upwards. Or perhaps better said, the fourth quarter reversed the flat or slightly negative trends of the past year.
However, Ahold USA still needs to perform better. I listened to the post-earnings conference call and heard both Ahold CEO Dick Boer and AUSA COO James McCann offer optimistic views about the chain’s future prospects in the U.S.
Much of their hope centers around the success of the retailer’s customer engagement and price reduction program, “Project Thunder,” and – to be fair – much of the plan still hasn’t been unveiled (Phase 3 has been recently rolled out), so it’s difficult to measure the level of sales and improvement and market share gains (but the trends are positive) Ahold USA will ultimately achieve, and at what cost.
So, let’s look at some tangible facts: a 0.3 percent identical store sales gain (excluding fuel) is an improvement, but still well below AUSA’s peer group (e.g., Kroger, at the top of the chart, posted a 6 percent ID sales jump – excluding fuel – in its recently released fourth quarter). Additionally, operating income at its U.S. stores dropped from $233 million to $222 million during the busy fourth quarter. That may not be a huge dip (about 4 percent) and the decline most likely can be attributed to investment spending against “Thunder,” but for an earnings-driven retailer that tightly scrutinizes profits, any profit decrease is of concern.
I’m also troubled by Ahold’s self-love of its “own brands.” Now with 37.6 percent of total U.S. store sales in private label (with a goal of 40 percent), I’m not viewing that as good thing. Why? Because other than the “Nature’s Promise” line, I wouldn’t rate the consistency of product quality and overall consumer perception as much above average.
Vendors tells us that the shuffling of dropping and adding private label suppliers is continuing, which makes me wonder how the consumer can get an accurate gauge of qualitative consistency. And, while 40 percent of total sales is certainly achievable, at what cost do you sacrifice funds from branded suppliers (whose items are being replaced by private label products) while also having to internally cover the specific underperforming private label items that consumers aren’t craving?
In a nutshell, AUSA’s own brands penetration may be increasing, but at this point, product quality and consumer perception are nowhere close to being at the same level as the industry’s private label benchmark retailers – Wegmans, Costco and Whole Foods.
However, my biggest concern – the state of culture and morale – is somewhat intangible. But not intangible enough that I can’t decipher the vibe and comments of many associates.
Simply said, there’s a feeling of frustration (or worse) among many of AUSA’s employees.
I see it at the store level in most divisions, where staffing and training are still not up to par. And at least at two divisions (Giant/Landover and Stop & Shop-New England), the consumer’s perception of their shopping experiences (as well as competition) has cost sales and market share, despite having the best locations in their respective markets.
That said, it shouldn’t come as a shock that Joe Kelley is no longer presiding over Stoppie in New England. While Kelley did indeed resign, it seemed like he was only forcing the inevitable. That Kelley and McCann were not perceived to be in recent simpatico would be an understatement.
But here’s a cultural scenario that does involve leadership and ultimately performance.
Mark McGowan is a terrific guy and a real industry talent. He’s made many sacrifices for the good of the company and accepted new challenges without complaint. For example, after Jeff Martin left AUSA, former COO Carl Schlicker asked Mark to step in as EVP-merchandising, despite having limited experience at that desk. Mark worked hard to enhance his relationships with the vendors and executed the company’s merchandising and procurement initiatives like the pro that he is.
When Bhavdeep Singh moved from EVP-store operations to head up new formats, McCann asked Mark to switch from merchandising to ops, his natural position of expertise. That move would be officially made once a replacement for Mark could be found. Eight months later, Mark is still manning the merchandising department.
While the AUSA official news release announcing Kelley’s departure indicated that Don Sussman, the company’s New York Metro president, would be leading its New England division on an interim basis, an intra-company email from McCann indicated that Mark would ultimately be presiding over the 220 store New England unit, but also maintain his job as EVP-operations for AUSA once a replacement can be found for his current job heading up merchandising.
I’ve been writing about the grocery business since 1973 and I have never seen an organizational chart where the store ops overseer of a nearly 800 unit network also presides over the company’s largest division. (An Ahold senior official said, “We believe that this structure has worked well in the past and will work again. However, if this dual structure does not work, then we will simply develop a plan to transition a new division President into this role and go back to having four division presidents while Mark would focus on the EVP of operations role.)
I’ve been very open about my relationship with James McCann. He’s got a 30 pound brain, has a tireless work ethic and a burning passion to succeed. He’s been very candid about the dire urgency to change how Ahold USA goes to market. In the 25 months he’s been at the helm, he’s toiled feverishly to change many aspects of AUSA’s business because he firmly believed that the company was on a path towards extinction. Believe him or not (and popularity aside) there’s no hypocrisy at all. And ultimately he may be right that painful, radical surgery was necessary to bring the patient back to good health.
In the meantime, McCann’s got to focus on the culture. Make the associates feel better about their jobs (refer to the approach of New Albertson Inc. COO Jim Perkins, who helped turn Acme around and is now attempting to do the same at Safeway’s eastern division. Coincidentally, Perkins also served as a regional VP for Giant/Landover until 2012). That means more than encouraging than associates to empower themselves as part of “Thunder.” (That same Ahold official noted that AUSA is aware of the importance of upgrading the company’s overall morale and is working diligently to improve associate engagement).
But it’s only McCann himself who can change this perception. It’s his job to create confidence and consensus among the employees, and as such he’s the one who needs to initiate the bonding. That’s part of leadership. If McCann really wants to reshape Ahold USA and bring back the company’s swagger, he must next focus on associate satisfaction.
Nothing is more important.
Perkins To the Rescue? Safeway’s Eastern Division Ready To Let It All Hang Out
I’ve been covering Safeway’s eastern division since 1978. In that time, nearly a dozen division presidents served their three or four year tenures and then were usually scuttled to another Safeway corporate or division post far away from the Baltimore-Washington market.
These were well-meaning leaders with a solid knowledge of the grocery business and a keen understanding of the marketplace to which they were assigned. There were even some exceptional talents – the late Don Smith and Karl Schroeder come to mind – who could have performed even better if they had been allowed to deploy their skills in a less restrictive manner.
But that wasn’t ever going to happen, because process and the most centralized system in the supermarket business would never allow it.
For corporate Safeway, its paint-by-the-numbers cost control strategy usually guaranteed solid earnings and a steady stock price. But, while the industry evolved over the past decade, Safeway didn’t. As new and more diverse competition entered the fray, Safeway maintained its bland, non-aggressive style. As “fresh” marketing became more important, Safeway seemed to be stuck in some sort of time warp, offering little creativity or excitement in its produce, meat, seafood and deli departments.
Even the great Steve Burd, a first team Hall of Famer in my book for changing the supermarket industry’s model on how to maximize administrative efficiencies, didn’t care much about merchandising.
Locally, it was even worse. Because of the distance between Pleasanton, CA and Lanham, MD there was a cultural and geographic schism within the organization. There’s always been talent at the eastern division, but when you’re told repeatedly that “you can’t do that” or “you “must do this,” motivation and morale eventually become deflated. I remember one senior level Safeway associate telling me after a particularly difficult day in dealing with Pleasanton, “I feel like I need a hall pass to take a 10 minute bathroom break.”
I have a feeling a year from now those frustrations of the past will be purged like Russian history.
After attending the kickoff vendor meeting led by the new Albertsons influenced Safeway team, I believe a fresh chapter is about to written for a company that has been in the local market for more than 100 years, but hasn’t had a chance to fly by itself for decades.
And while I’ve been critical of Safeway’s smothering corporate style for years, it certainly wasn’t all bad for the division. Of its 127 stores, most are in great locations and, judging by the attitude of the Safeway representatives at the meeting (a blend of veteran Safeway associates and new Albertsons hires), I got the distinct feeling that they are very excited about the company’s future prospects, especially being given the opportunity to more fully demonstrate their talents. And as Jim Perkins, COO of New Albertsons Inc. (NAI), the Cerberus unit that oversees Safeway eastern, Acme, Shaw’s/Star Markets and Jewel-Osco, Safeway is in significantly better shape than Acme was when he was nameD president of that retailer two years ago.
From a market overview, Safeway is poised to show solid sales gains and increased market share over the next 18 months. And if the Acme revampment can be used as a guidepost, all retailers will feel the pinch of a more aggressive number two player in the market, but none more than market leader Giant Food. More than 90 percent of Safeway’s 127 units compete directly with the Landover unit of Ahold USA, which has its own challenges to deal with. While Giant has recently unveiled a pricing and customer engagement program of its own (“Project Thunder”), it has gained little traction thus far.
In the past five years, Giant has continued to lose share to newer market entries Harris Teeter, Wegmans and Whole Foods, but could always count on Safeway as a virtual non-threat. That will be changing soon.
Most of all, I’m happy for the old guard Safeway associates who have been running on the same treadmill for years.
I’ve witnessed the performance of Jim Perkins in executing the new game plan, and I’m impressed with the desire and work ethic of division president Steve Burnham, VP-marketing and merchandising Tom Lofland and VP-ops Dean Willhite.
As Perkins said to more than 300 vendors earlier this month: “Lay the wood to it. Make it happen. It’s all about sales. Making our margin requirements isn’t our first concern. Let’s sell more product and build market share. We’re going to play offense.”
Heads Keep On Rolling At Wal-Mart; Grocery Department Remains Big Target
As stated before, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon is serious about reshaping Wal-Wart. And of apparent particular interest to him is the company’s highest volume area – food.
After the dispatching of former U.S. president Bill Simon last year, a quick trail of departures (both voluntary and forced) followed. Among those also exiting earlier this year was U.S. chief merchant Duncan (“I Love Me”) Mac Naughton, executive VP-sales innovation John Aden and about a dozen key acolytes in the Wal-Mart senior chain of command.
Now, Jack Sinclair, executive VP of the retailer’s grocery division, has retired after 33 years in the industry, the last seven with the Behemoth. Sinclair was seen as the last remaining key food link to the old Mike Duke regime (which ended 13 months ago). Wal-Mart also shifted three other senior VPs – Tony Airoso, Carmen Bauza and Debra Layton – to new positions.
McMillon has made the boldest moves of any Wal-Mart leader since the late 1990s, and he seems clearly determined to change the public and corporate image of a company that is perceived as the industry’s top rule bender/breaker, exploiter, and in some circles, underachiever.
However, much like Ahold USA’s attempt to improve its presence and deliver consistent sales growth, the entire process really does begin in the stores. And from February 2014 when McMillon, the homegrown Wal-Mart veteran who began his career at the retailer as a summer intern, was named to the top post, I’ve noticed virtually no difference in measuring Wal-Mart’s store conditions – virtually all units remain significantly understaffed with poor associate training and out-of-stocks as bad as they’ve ever been. While McMillon has acknowledged that out-of-stocks (caused by inadequate distribution or, worse, from in-store labor shortages unable to deliver stock to the shelves) cost the company $3 billion in annual sales, this is a major problem that has yet been adequately addressed.
I believe in McMillon. He seems so unlike his most recent predecessors Lee Scott and Duke, who were both devout, well-meaning stewards of the Wal-Mart tradition, but were reluctant to change long-standing, archaic cultural practices and were also burdened with limited innovative skills. Retail has changed exponentially even in the last five years and McMillon has the best lens of any Wal-Mart executive to change the horizon.
But just like James McCann at AUSA (who’s been at his job twice as long and operates on a much smaller playing field ), the changes will be tolerated for a period of time before a firmer grade is meted out.
Wall Street is only going to tolerate below industry average earnings and meager ID stores sales gains for so long, but customers will be even quicker to judge with their wallets.
And while McMillon may have a longer leash than McCann (Wal-Mart has had only five chief executives in its history including iconic founder Sam Walton), both CEOs need to show measurable and actionable results that resound not only with the financial community, but with their own associates, vendors and most importantly their customers.
Local Notes
Good news to report about Ron Onorato. The veteran Ahold USA executive and former president of its Stop & Shop New York Metro division, has the left parent firm after 35 years to join Inserra’s Supermarkets as its new president and COO. Ron will replace Steve Chalas who is retiring after 50 years with the 21 store Mahwah, NJ-based ShopRite operator, which also opened the first non-corporately-owned PriceRite in Garfield, NJ last July. Chalas began his career in the earliest days of the company and worked side by side with Larry Inserra Sr. founder of the high volume Wakefern member. For Onorato, this is a virtual rebirth after being seemingly lost in the shuffle at Ahold USA by the current regime. His strong skills as an operator and teacher will certainly help chairman and CEO Larry Inserra Jr. as he continues to build a family-driven organization now in its fourth generation. “Ron has an exceptional track record for operational expertise within the large-format supermarket sector and is known throughout the industry for his integrity and passion for his work. We have no doubt he is the ideal leader to take our company into the next phase of development,” stated Larry Inserra Jr. We wish Ron all the best in his new gig…kudos to Mike Vail, veteran Delhaize America exec who will succeed his buddy, Brad Wise, as the new president of Scarborough, ME-based Hannaford Supermarkets, effective June 30. Vail, a 29-year veteran of the company who began his career at Hannaford in 1986, is currently chief merchant and supply chain officer for Delhaize America. His previous roles with Hannaford have included retail management trainee, store manager, district manager, category manager and director of deli merchandising. Before leading the supply chain effort for Delhaize America, Vail served as president and chief operating officer of Sweetbay Supermarkets in Florida (which was acquired by Bi-Lo Holdings in 2012). Wise, a 30-year veteran of Hannaford and Delhaize America who began his career with Hannaford as a retail management trainee, worked as a store manager and ultimately became regional VP-retail operations. Before becoming Hannaford president in 2013, Wise was senior VP-human resources for Delhaize America. “Brad’s announcement of his retirement marks a transition in his distinguished and successful career with our company,” said Kevin Holt, Delhaize America chief executive. “During the next few months, Brad and Mike will work together to develop a smooth transition plan to ensure the continued forward momentum of our Hannaford strategic plan. I am grateful that we were able to tap into strong internal talent to ensure a seamless transition.” In related industry talk, there’s strong word in the trade that Delhaize will revert back to having two separate merchandising offices – one in Scarborough, and the other remaining in Salisbury, NC for its struggling, but improving, Food Lion unit. Could we actually be seeing a movement back towards decentralization? And here’s the “improving” financial news about Food Lion (and Delhaize America): operating profit increased 44.1 percent to $199 million. Underlying operating margin for the quarter was 4.2 percent compared with 3.3 percent in 2013. Excluding the 53rd trading week, underlying operating profit increased 20.7 percent to $166 million. Underlying operating margin increased from 3.3 percent to 3.8 percent mainly due to a higher gross margin helped by a favorable sales mix as well as due to lower selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues, the Brussels-based retailer noted. Overall U.S. sales for the quarter totaled $4.7 billion, a 12.1 percent increase. Excluding the effect of a 53rd week in the 2014 year, sales improved by 3.3 percent and comparable-store sales totaled 3.6 percent, supported by retail inflation of 2.6 percent. Frans Muller, CEO of Delhaize, said the chain would continue to expand out its “Easy Fresh and Affordable” strategy to an additional 160 more Food Lion units in 2015, noting the program, with price and service elements designed to increase basket sizes, has driven positive results at 76 stores that have already received the investments. The strategy requires an investment of $1.5 million in each store, The Dutch-born chief executive who joined Delhaize 18 months ago added, “We believe this will favorably position us in an increasingly competitive southeastern U.S. market. While we are focused on maintaining our sales momentum, we are also mindful of non-recurring costs related to Food Lion’s strategic initiative.” One more Delhaize item: former CEO of parent firm Delhaize Group, Pierre-Olivier Beckers, will be leaving the company’s board this May. I see no one shedding a tear…Acme Markets, which has been in the supermarket business in the pretty town of Chestertown, MD since 1946, officially cut the ribbon on its long-awaited rebuilt store, the first new Acme on Maryland’s Eastern Shore since 1991. At 41,500 square feet, the new Kent County unit nearly doubles the size of the former Acme unit. The store was aggressively merchandised with a very pretty décor package and some hot opening week pricing. They’ll need to continue to be on their “A” game, because in a few months Redner’s will open its own Chestertown unit, a 44,000 square foot supermarket at the site of a former failed (weren’t they all?) Fresh & Green’s store about a half a mile away…another pretty Eastern Shore town is minus one supermarket as Harris Teeter has shuttered its Bethany Beach, DE store. HT, which opened the store in 2010 as one of three “Sussex County units, has never really gotten its mojo working in the “First State,” and with Bethany Beach being one of many Delmarva small towns where seasonal populations create great swing in volume, the unit of Kroger packed up its tent and left. As a whole Harris Teeter is doing just fine and Kroger is doing even better – like spectacularly better. Based on recently released fourth quarter earnings, Kroger is indeed in “beast mode.” The Cincinnati-based juggernaut posted a 22.7 percent profit gain while also increasing its ID sales by an impressive 6 percent. Kroger’s been on a spectacular run over the last five years and, when asked by Ed Kelly of Credit Suisse at the post-earnings conference call why Kroger’s identical stores sales are widening the gap against its competitors, CEO Rodney McMullen answered the inquiry in a Kroger-esque manner – direct, but humbly: “Ed, it’s a question that actually we’ve spent a little bit of time trying to think through internally, and probably the biggest thing is our associates, our store teams and all the people that support our stores, they continue to do a better job of helping serve our customers on a daily basis. Everything from making sure products are fresher to making sure that we treat our customers right. And we really do believe we had a great foundation in place and our associates really are taking it up to the next level in terms of how they’re taking care of our customers. And we think that that’s the thing that’s really been successful and we really appreciate what our associates are doing.”…at Weis Markets, the company’s efforts to build sales and lower retails is working, but at the cost of short-term profits. The Sunbury, PA merchant said its fourth quarter sales increased 4.0 percent to $713.8 million while comp store sales grew by 3.5 percent. During the 13 week period ending December 27, 2014, earnings at the closely-held publicly-traded retailer declined 11.6 percent to $13.9 million. Weis attributed its sales increases to the continuing success of its pricing programs, which were fully implemented in the first quarter. It added that results also benefited from strong sales increases in pharmacy, HBC and its fresh departments. “One year ago, we spoke of our plans to recalibrate our go to market strategies and focus on increasing sales and market share,” said Jonathan Weis, president and CEO. “Over the past year, we steadily invested in our pricing progra
ms and successfully executed our strategy, which has produced consistent sales increases in key center store and fresh departments. These investments helped us increase our market share and our customer count. We also improved our in-store customer experience and increased our customer service focus. As a result of our investments and customer service programs, we are well-positioned to build on our success in 2015.”….David Maniaci and Mike Stolarz remain the top two officials at Iselin, NJ based Allegiance Retail Services, the company that was formed by Foodtown in 2011 to provide marketing, advertising, technology and merchandising support to independent retailers. Maniaci, who operates Nicholas Markets, remains chairman and CEO of those Foodtown and Allegiance. Stolarz continues as president and CEO of those two entities while Lou Scaduto Jr., president of Food Circus, stays on a vice chairman. Foodtown operators Christopher Evans, Daniel Katz and Esmail Mobarak continue to serve as VP, secretary and treasurer, respectively. Other board members include Nicholas D’Agostino III, D’Agostino’s Supermarkets, and Foodtown retailers John Estevez and John Shakoor… at UNFI, the natural, organic and specialty distributor based in Providence which may be adding more new accounts than any other distributor serving the retail business today, it was kind of a mixed second quarter. For the period ended January 31, UNFI posted a healthy sales increase of 22.5 percent to $2 billion, but profits fell 0.7 percent to $27.8 million, due in part to a one-time contractual error with a single (undisclosed) customer and the impact of a weaker Canadian dollar…Giant Eagle is exiting the “extreme value” discount business, announcing it would close its eight “Good Cents Grocery + More” locations on March 26. “Good Cents,” which began life in 2008 as Valu King, has stores in western PA and northeast OH. About 200 associates will be affected by the closures…Costco announced that it will partner with Visa and Citigroup to oversee its co-branded credit card business on April 1, 2016. At that point, Costco will end the long exclusivity arrangement it had with American Express…on the heels of a record quarterly loss ($2.6 billion) which included the announcement to close all 133 Canadian stores in its recently completed fourth quarter, Target and its new chairman and CEO Brian Cornell are turning a new page. The former Safeway and Pepsico executive said that Target is beginning to see momentum in some of its core departments – style, baby and wellness. So where does that leave food? In the post-earnings conference call with the analysts on February 25, Cornell stated: “Food is very important to our guests, and we know food trips drive traffic. We recognize we have a lot of work to do as we begin to build our reinvention plans for food. We recognize we need to make changes to our assortment – to deliver more organic, natural and gluten-free items that are critically important to the guests. We also recognize we have to change the in-store experience and really make sure our grocery merchandising complements the great experience we create at Target. We won’t get there overnight. It will be a multi-year transition. But food is going to play a very important role and complement our other signature categories to make sure we drive traffic to our stores and to our website.” A week later, at an analyst meeting in Manhattan, Cornell again addressed Target’s food plans, reiterating its attention to healthier items while also making its ingredient labeling clearer and simpler. “We’ll be more nimble, much more agile. We’re in the very early stages of a shift in our business.”…perhaps the busiest man in the retail food industry lately has been our buddy Bill Shaner, who is currently CEO of Haggen’s new Pacific Southwest division, which was created when parent firm Comvest (a private equity firm) acquired 146 stores from Albertsons and Safeway in Southern California and Arizona as part of the FTC-ordered divestiture process. The conversions are still in their early stages, and for a company that until recently operated 18 service-oriented stores in the Washington-Oregon area, Shaner is at the helm of essentially building an entirely new company. Bill’s a true talent with a great work ethic and off-the-chart people skills, so I’m curious to see how he’ll handle this daunting challenge in a large new market that’s already overstored…Baltimore-based spicemaker McCormick has been busy on the acquisition front lately. Last month, the company announced that it had acquired large Italian spice firm Drogheria & Alimentari for $97 million. Then, earlier this month, McCormick, the global leader in spices and seasonings, affirmed that it has also purchased Lakewood, NJ-based Brand Aromatics for $63 million in cash. “Brand Aromatics is a great addition to our McCormick’s industrial business,” said Alan Wilson, McCormick’s CEO. “We are currently a leading supplier to packaged food companies and leading restaurants, and this acquisition extends the value-added flavor solutions we provide to stocks, marinades and other savory products, We look forward to working with the employees of Brand Aromatics to build sales and further strengthen our customer intimacy.”…unintentionally funny news release of the month: Kmart announced that its remaining Super K combo stores (the only remaining unit in our market is in Uniontown, PA) will be downsized and become less service oriented (how much “less” does that mean?). The new format will be renamed K-fresh, despite the fact that service meat, bakery and deli will be eliminated and more pre-packaged items and fewer overall items will reportedly be featured. Sounds like another Kmart winner to me…in news from adjacent markets, the battle to gain market share in Richmond is heating up. Wal-Mart’s grocery store format, Neighborhood Markets retailer, debuted its first two stores – on Hopkins Road in Chesterfield and on Sliding Hill Road in Atlee (Hanover County) in the Old Dominion’s capital city on March 5. Both units are about 41,000 square feet. The Behemoth plans two other new Richmond units later this summer – on Brook Road in Henrico County and in a new development near Iron Bridge Road in Chesterfield County. Also coming in the next few years to an already overstored Richmond market are two Wegmans, at least two Aldis, another Whole Foods, three new Krogers (two Marketplaces) and possibly several Lidl discount units…there are several obituaries to report this month including actor Leonard Nimoy, a true Renaissance man. In addition to a long acting career that spanned 62 years, the Boston-born Nimoy was also a photographer, poet and musician. Of course, he’ll always be remembered for his signature role as “Mr. Spock” from the iconic TV series “Star Trek” (1966-69). Nimoy made a mini-career out of the role appearing in numerous spinoffs including another newer Star Trek TV show, eight movies, an animated series and video games. Nimoy was 83…Lew Soloff, a tremendous jazz trumpeter who I have had the pleasure of hearing several times over the past 20 years, is dead. The former member of Blood Sweat and Tears and a virtuoso in his own right, is best remembered by me for his lilting piccolo trumpet solo on the Paul McCartney classic “Penny Lane,” which he performed often when he was a member of The Fab Faux, the greatest (and still active) Beatles cover band of all time. He was 71…. In my 42 years in the business, one of the most interesting people I ever met was former Coca-Cola president and COO Don Keough. Keough had a long association with Coke beginning in 1950 He retired in 1993 and served on the company’s board until 2013. Keough was a great motivator, one who was passionate about the brand and is probably best remembered as one of the key executives during Coke’s short, ill-fated foray into New Coke. Of that highly publicized period, Keough said, “Some critics will say Coca-Cola made a marketing mistake. Some cynics will say that we pla
nned the whole thing. The truth is we are not that dumb and not that smart.” Don’s great people skills, his hilarious storytelling and his innate leadership ability made him one of the most influential people in our business over the last 35 years…It is also with great sadness that I report the death of my good friend Stuart Mendelson, former senior VP of sales for Murry’s. Stuart passed away earlier this month at the age of 69. More than just a talented sales executive, Stuart Mendelson was truly a one of a kind person – funny, hilariously profane and gifted with the highest level of street smarts that you can imagine. Stuart was always “on.” He’d unnerve you, challenge you, and then make you laugh, all seemingly within the same moment. He was kind of like the Robin Williams of the food business. In the end, his heart of gold always shone through causing you to forget the candor and the insults. To his wife Jackie, and his two children. Scott and Staci, you have lost a great partner and I have lost a good friend. My deepest condolences.