Well, we just completed one of the driest and hottest summers in memory, and the retail landscape continues to be scorched by the remnants of the A&P debacle. Unfortunately there is still no resolution to that “mishegas,” but the winds of autumn will certainly bring some clarity to that scene (see story on page 1 for up to the minute news) and we will recap it all as it unfolds next month.
Congrats to Robert Solomon on being named retail operations manager-East Coast for Truco Enterprises/On The Border. In his new position Robert will develop and maintain relationships with the company’s broker and DSD partners, sales teams and regional representatives and will be responsible for generating sales opportunities across the Northeast and Southeast markets. Robert has relocated to the Jacksonville, FL area but will be traveling to cover his area and, for anyone who knows him, it shouldn’t be a problem, as he is in great shape from his “other work” as an NCAA college basketball referee. He will bring a wealth of experience to his new position from his years at Frito-Lay, Pepsico and Russell Stover. Good luck, Robert.
And a welcome back to the Metro area to Rich Rosenberg who is now the director of deli operations at Fairway Market. Rich had been the senior merchandiser for deli/bakery/cheese at Food Emporium for several years and left for a similar position with Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh, but will now be spearheading the deli efforts at the upscale retailer.
We were saddened to learn that we recently lost one of our “bigger than life” personalities in the industry when Jim Reece of Suffern, NY passed away on August 28 after a long illnesses. He leaves behind his high school sweetheart and wife of more than 50 years, Barbara, and a son David. I didn’t know Jim extremely well, but could always see that he was a master tale-teller as he could (and would) command a room whenever he entered. He was a proud former Marine and exceptional athlete in his time and brought those characteristics to a career in the food industry. He started with General Foods and eventually moved on to serve as president of Food Enterprises (one of the largest food brokerages in its day). He concluded his career as owner of his own company, J & A Sales. The family asks that any donations in Jim’s honor may be made to Camp Venture Foundation, 25 Smith Street, Nanuet, NY10954 and/or to Crystal Run Village Foundation, Inc., 601 Stony Ford Road, Middletown, NY, 10941. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Congratulations to all at the National Supermarket Association (NSA) on their recent sixth annual selling show held at Resorts World Casino at the old Aqueduct racetrack. In my estimation, it was the biggest and best show that they have put on to date. The key component was getting a large portion of their membership base to attend the show and demonstrate to the vendor community and exhibitors their expansive reach across all banners and state lines.
Speaking of successful selling shows, the gang at Krasdale Foods/Alpha 1 Marketing had another top notch effort in bringing out their customers for a spectacular one-day selling event.
Prior to the show opening, Krasdale and Alpha 1 Marketing handed out their annual CAB awards to the sales community. These awards recognize outstanding results during the last 12 months and for driving business in C-Town, Aim and Bravo stores. They also encompass best in class usage of extensive sales, marketing and merchandising tools not only to build sales but brand share and consumer awareness. This year’s winners were: Pete Cerrito, Ebro Puleva; Jairo Gomez, P&G; and Eric Morgan, Kellogg’s. Congratulations to all of the award winners.
And as we went to press, we learned of the passing Anna Dieffenbach. Anna was the mother of Karen Waldon and mother-in-law of Mikel Waldon of Empire Food Marketing. Our deepest condolences to the family. Remembrances in her name may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD21741-5014 (michaeljfox.org) or HolidayCity at Berkeley First Aid Squad, 100 Port Royal Drive, Toms River, NJ 08757. May she rest in peace.
I’m sure anyone over the age of 45 out there knows of Sidney Weiss. Sid was literally one of the “Meat Gurus” of the industry from his years at Kahn’s, Hillshire Farms and Sara Lee. No matter what industry show, dinner or event, he could always be found holding court with nearly every meat buyer, merchandiser or independent operator in the industry. Well, Sid is still going strong and, to drive that point home, he just remarried on September 6 at the age of 82! His lovely former wife Joanne passed away nearly four years ago, and Sid recently met a terrific woman Alyce who had also lost her spouse, and they decided being alone is no fun. We had reports from guests at the nuptials who it was a heck of a party –  like every Weiss event! Mazel tov, Sidney!
We learned that Alicia Fitzpatrick of Wakefern has moved from the wholesaler’s specialty division and will now be bringing her skills to the wholesale division of the big cooperative. After 28 years of selling, buying and merchandising specialty foods, Alicia is excited to venture into something so new and exciting. Best wishes, Alicia!
Mrs. Green’s Natural Market, part of the Natural Market Food Group, debuted its first New York City location when they opened their doors in Greenwich Village at 585 Hudson Street. It is a spectacular inaugural effort in the big city as the 12,000 square foot store plays out over two floors of selling space. The site (a former Duane Reade) had been in development for nearly two years and offers an extensive array of Mrs. Green’s wheelhouse items of natural, organic and very local products. CEO Patrick Brown was front and center at the opening, with his lovely wife Robin Brown, and both were eager to showcase the Greenwich Village store. Pat took the reigns over at Mrs. Brown’s a little more than a year ago, coming from New Seasons Market. Pat tells us that a new Mrs. Green’s will be opening in late September in Westchester County, New York and more are set to come in the area as well……..
Kings Food Markets has begun aggressively promoting its private label lines, called Kings Own. There currently are 350 Kings Own products in its stores and they plan to double the number of offerings to 700 items. Kings is promoting the own label line as a “premium option,” believing that the emphasis should be on “outstanding value” for the price, rather than just price. “We have been working on this for over a year, and we strive to bring the Kings quality into each product” said Judy Spires, Kings president and CEO. In concert with the rollout, Kings ran a September 11 promotion to benefit food banks in which customers were asked to buy one Kings Own product to try, and one to donate to an anti-hunger organization. Spires continued, “We are not positioning this as a value brand, but quality that you can’t beat for the value you are getting,” she said. “It’s the perfect balance of quality and value.”
In other Kings news, it was good to hear that Hans Ketels, director dairy/frozen was finally back at his desk. Hans had extensive and complicated back surgery and was out of work for the past six months. He is back on his feet and actually said he might be ready to start swinging a golf club soon.
Well, short and sweet this time around folks. We will have a fall abundance of news by the time we come around next month and in the interim I look forward to seeing and hearing from you over the next few weeks. As always you can reach me at 201-250-2217 or [email protected].
