named Craig C. Sturken chairman, succeeding James B. Meyer, who is retiring. Earlier this year, Sturken, a former divisional chief executive officer at A&P, had succeeded Meyer as president and CEO. Spartan also named three new directors: M. Shan Atkins, a former Sears executive who is currently a principal in Atkins/Erbs Investments; Frank M. Gambino, director of the food marketing program at the Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University; and Timothy J. O'Donovan, president and CEO of footwear concern Wolverine World Wide. In addition, the board established a new Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee comprised of independent directors, to be chaired by Gregory P. Josefowicz.
CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Wayne Manning said he will retire as president of Bashas' here at the end of the year. Manning has been with the 137-store chain since 1967. The company said Mike Proulx has been designated his successor with the title of executive vice president and chief operating officer, a new position. Proulx (pronounced Prew) was previously senior vice president, retail operations; succeeding him in that position is Ralph Woodward, formerly vice president of retail operations for the chain's Northern Arizona division.
PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway.com has appointed Dave Lauffer as chief operating officer. Lauffer replaces Gary Sargeant, who has returned to the United Kingdom to assume new duties at Tesco, which owns 35% of Safeway.com. Lauffer is now responsible for in-store and delivery operations for the Web-based grocery service, which operates in eight Western U.S. cities under the Safeway.com or Vons.com brands. Before joining Safeway.com as vice president of operations last October, Lauffer was a retail operations manager with Vons, a division of Safeway based in Arcadia, Calif.
SAN ANTONIO -- Austin-Michael, an executive search firm based here, has named Norman A. Wills as senior partner of its newly opened Dallas office, located in Richardson, Texas. He will be responsible for performing management searches within the retail and wholesale supermarket industry, as well as developing and expanding the Dallas operation. Wills has over 22 years of experience in supermarket recruiting, specializing in upper- and middle-management positions in merchandising, multi-unit operations, distribution finance and administration. Most recently, he worked for both national and boutique recruiting firms and spent 15 years in retail with Sears, Roebuck Co.
LANDOVER, Md. -- Giant Food last week appointed James E. Astuto executive vice president of operations. He will be responsible for retail store operations and distribution for the company. Dan Currie, who held the position, has been named executive vice president of supply chain logistics at parent company Ahold USA, Chantilly, Va. Most recently, Astuto was vice president of operations for the New York Metro division of Ahold's Stop & Shop. He oversaw the conversion of Grand Union and Edwards stores to the Stop & Shop banner. He has over 35 years of experience in the retail food business. Astuto will report to Dick Baird, president and chief executive officer. Stephen Neal, senior vice president of store operations, and Jack O'Keefe, senior vice president of distribution, will report to Astuto.