Fleming Names Group President
os. here has named John Runyan to the new position of senior vice president and group president of price-impact stores. Runyan was senior vice president of retail concepts.
No successor will be named to Runyan's former position as Fleming continues to re-engineer its management positions.
Some of Runyan's prior responsibilities, including oversight of the franchise operation of Piggly Wiggly Corp., Memphis, Tenn., have been absorbed by Glenn Mealman, who continues as executive vice president.
Runyan reports to Mark Batenic, senior vice president of customer management. Mealman continues to report to Robert E. Stauth, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Fleming.
Supervalu Taps Area Marketers
MINNEAPOLIS -- Supervalu here has named four executives to new positions as area marketing directors in two separate divisions.
Lyle Fuller was named an area marketing director of the Minneapolis division. He joined Supervalu in 1978 and has held a number of positions within the division, most recently as region marketing manager.
Bill Mackey also was named an area marketing director of the Minneapolis division. He has held the position of retail development consultant since joining the division in January 1994.
Bill Poirier was named an area marketing director of the Minneapolis division. He has held numerous posts at Supervalu in his nine years with the company and most recently was retail development manager of the division, overseeing Mackey.
Fuller, Mackey and Poirier report to Matt Saunders, director of merchandising and sales for the division.
In another change, H. Leon Craig was named area marketing director of the St. Louis division, Hazelwood, Mo.
Craig has been with the company since 1987, most recently as director of merchandising in the Bismarck, N.D., division. He reports to Mike Witt, director of marketing for the division.
NGA Elects Board Members
RESTON, Va. -- The National Grocers Association here has elected new officers and other executive committee members to its board of directors.
Steve Herbison, president and chief executive officer of URM Stores, Spokane, Wash., was elected chairman of the board.
Larry D. Contos, president and chief executive officer of Pay Less Supermarkets, Anderson, Ind., was elected vice chairman.
Benny Cooper, president of Affiliated Foods, Amarillo, Texas, was elected secretary-treasurer.
Other members named include: Thomas D. Goodner, president of Goodner's Supermarkets, Duncan, Okla.; Al Flaten, president and chief executive officer of Nash Finch Co., Minneapolis, and Thomas K. Zaucha, president and chief executive officer of NGA.
FMI Appoints Urban Manager
WASHINGTON -- The Food Marketing Institute here has named Todd A. Turner manager of urban affairs and diversity programs. Turner is responsible for coordinating these issues within FMI and working with both the group's Urban Initiatives Committee and its Task Force on Managing Diversity. He will be actively involved with the National Urban League and the National League of Cities. He reports to Karen Brown, senior vice president of FMI.
Turner succeeds Jackson Davis, who has left the organization.
Turner most recently was a research analyst with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. He has also worked as a researcher at the Aspen Institute and the National League of Cities and as a sales representative at Pfizer and at Merck.
Standards Board Taps Wittenberg
AUSTIN, Texas -- Whole Foods Market here said that Margaret Wittenberg, quality assurance director, has been appointed to a five-year term on the National Organic Standards Board.
The board works with the United States Department of Agriculture to draft federal standards for the production, handling and certification of organic foods. The board's 15 member group represents all sectors of the organic foods industry, as well as the USDA. Wittenberg will represent retailers.
She has been with Whole Foods since 1981 and is currently in charge of the company's communications team.
