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EXECUTIVE CHANGES

Richfood Promotes Covington, Othersngs here said last week it has named Alec Covington executive vice president and chief operating officer of wholesale operations -- a new position created as part of a move by Richfood to define lines of responsibility more clearly among its wholesale, retail and support activities.Covington was president and chief operating officer of the company's Virginia division,

Richfood Promotes Covington, Others

ngs here said last week it has named Alec Covington executive vice president and chief operating officer of wholesale operations -- a new position created as part of a move by Richfood to define lines of responsibility more clearly among its wholesale, retail and support activities.

Covington was president and chief operating officer of the company's Virginia division, a position for which Richfood said it has not yet named a successor. He will be responsible for central procurement, distribution, logistics and transportation for Richfood Virginia, Richfood Pennsylvania and a produce distributorship in Norristown, Pa.

Prior to joining Richfood in 1995, Covington was president of Houchens Industries - Retail Grocery Co., Bowling Green, Ky., after working for Wetterau, Hazelwood, Mo., as president for the Quincy, Fla., and Greenville, Ky., divisions.

He reports to John E. Stokely, president and chief executive officer of Richfood Holdings. In other changes:

Joseph Della Noce Jr. has been named president and chief operating officer of Richfood Pennsylvania, a division that combines the former Super Rite Foods, Harrisburg, Pa., and Rotelle, West Point, Pa. He succeeds David Gundling, who has left the company.

Della Noce, whose responsibilities include sales, marketing, procurement, distribution and logistics for the division, was executive vice president and general manager of the Rotelle frozen-food distribution center. He reports to Stokely.

William P. Sharkey has been named corporate vice president, transportation, for Richfood Holdings, a new position. He oversees fleet logistics for the company's four operating divisions.

Sharkey, previously vice president of transportation, for the Virginia division, reports to Stokely.

Julie A. McManus succeeds Sharkey as vice president of transportation at the Virginia division, with responsibility for fleet logistics in that division. She reports to Covington.

Allumbaugh Ends His Ralphs Career

COMPTON, Calif. -- Byron Allumbaugh ended a 38-year career with Ralphs Grocery Co. here last week when he retired as chairman and chief executive officer of the 430-store chain.

Allumbaugh, 65, said he plans to continue to serve on several corporate boards and to do consulting work during his retirement. "I have more things to do than I can handle," he told SN last week. He will also continue to attend industry conventions in his role as an honorary director-for-life of the Food Marketing Institute, Washington, which he served as chairman for two and a half terms, from 1982 to 1985.

Allumbaugh got his start in the food business as an apprentice butcher at the age of 12 and became meat manager for Bob's Market, an eight-store chain in California's Orange County, in 1953.

He joined Ralphs in 1958 as director of meat operations and moved up to vice president of store operations in 1967 and to vice president of marketing in 1969. In 1971 he was named chief operating officer, and two years later he became Ralphs' president. He was named chairman and chief executive officer in 1976.

Besides his involvement with the FMI, Allumbaugh was chairman of the California Retailers Association from 1986 to 1993; chairman of the Uniform Code Council from 1988 to 1990; and a director of CIES, the international chain store organization, from 1985 to 1996.

He is a member of the advisory board of Schnuck Markets, St. Louis, and a former recipient of the FMI's Sidney R. Rabb Award for industry statesmanship and community service.