On February 1, Affinity Group, the rapidly growing sales and marketing agency serving the food industry, has acquired Star Sales & Marketing (SS&M), the well-established sales agency based in New Freedom, PA and serving the Mid-Atlantic region.
This marks the fifth retail sales agency that the Affinity Group has acquired in the last 36 months. Plans call for SS&M to become quickly integrated into Affinity with Dan McShain and Randy Holland, co-owners of Star Sales & Marketing, becoming executive VPs for the new Affinity Group Retail – Mid-Atlantic region. They will both report to Bill Chiodo, president of Affinity Group Retail, based in Buffalo, NY. McShain will provide leadership for the new region while Holland will focus on business development.
In announcing the acquisition, Enzo Dentico, chairman of Affinity Group said, “Star Sales & Marketing has been doing business in the Mid-Atlantic market for over 20 years, selling most categories and retail classes of trade with a focus on perishables. Randy and Dan have an impressive record of growth built upon strong client and customer service, which are hallmarks to what we do at Affinity Group. I am thrilled that they are now part of our team as it is quite clear that they represent an extremely good fit both strategically and culturally with Affinity Group.”
Chiodo added, “For years, we have had a great working relationship with Dan and Randy and the entire Star team and we are excited to become one team! This acquisition is central to the execution of our strategic plan and our vision of becoming the premier retail sales agency in the Eastern half of the United States. We want our clients and customers to know that Star will be fully integrated into Affinity Group Retail and will be utilizing all of our capabilities including our trimester planning process, our retail reporting system, and our IRI syndicated data-based category selling approach.”
In response to the acquisition, McShain said, “I could not be more excited about teaming up with Affinity Group Retail. We have been partners on many clients in the past and look forward to being a part of their impressive go-to-market approach. Like us, they are very client- and customer-centric with outstanding service and support. Being able to utilize all of their systems, capabilities and technologies will be highly beneficial for all involved.”
Holland stated, “I’m so excited for our people to become a part of the Affinity Group Retail family! This ensures our folks will have even more opportunities for personal and professional growth and development. I look forward to being a part of the business development team in helping Affinity Group continue its impressive growth.”
Affinity Group was formed in 2014 and now employs nearly 1,000 associates in North America in both the retail and foodservice channels. Affinity Group Retail is the division focused exclusively on the retail channel, working in all categories of the supermarket.