Rick Cohen

Power 50 Ranking: 16 Title: Chairman and CEO Company: C&S Wholesale Grocers Key Developments:  Saw some customers, particularly A&P/Pathmark, struggle. What's Next: Seeking to build or maintain wholesale volume; possibly rebranding stores in the Southeast.

Rick Cohen, chairman and chief executive officer of C&S Wholesale Grocers, Keene, N.H., generally avoids the media. So it was no surprise that he stayed behind the scenes earlier this year as he authorized the company to provide relief for Haiti following the earthquake there.

Meanwhile, the privately owned — and traditionally tight-lipped — company also stepped into the public eye when it began reporting financial results following a $300 million bond issue in mid-April.

Sales at C&S declined slightly in the first half of the current fiscal year, to about $9.7 billion, while net income remained flat at about $40 million, despite a drop of 20.8% in the second quarter.

Several of its customers struggled with internal issues and the economy — chief among them A&P and its Pathmark subsidiary — industry observers pointed out.

“With negative same-store sales and store closures, A&P’s struggles have impacted C&S’ volume,” Gary Giblen, executive vice president of Quint-Miller & Co., New York, told SN, noting that business was also weak among other customers in the Southeast.

C&S also recently began rebranding some of its own retail stores with the Food World banner, part of an initiative to introduce — or reintroduce — the Food World name where it currently operates the Southern Family Markets chain. C&S had acquired several Food World stores in the Southeast from Ahold in 2005, and it acquired the rest of the Food World chain in a bankruptcy auction last year.

As for Cohen, his generosity was cited by SN last year when one observer called him a philanthropist “[who] has made the company very sensitive to the needy.”

That was demonstrated within 24 hours of the Jan. 12 temblor in Haiti, when Cohen gave C&S officials the go-ahead to get the company involved in helping earthquake victims, Gina Goff, director of community involvement, told SN. She quoted Cohen as saying, “Don’t tell me how little we can do — tell me how much we can do.”

With Cohen’s blessing, C&S launched “Stand With Haiti,” a campaign to collect cash donations from employees across its network of companies, including Grand Union Family Markets and Southern Family Markets — donations the company matched dollar-for-dollar.

C&S also donated medical supplies, which it flew into Haiti on the company’s corporate jet, plus 115 tons of water and food, which was delivered by military cargo or Federal Express planes.

Recent articles on Rick Cohen

You searched for: Rick Cohen

Displaying Results 1 - 6 of 67

Tomorrow's CEOs May Be Kinder, Gentler Leaders
Jul 19, 2010, Supermarket News, BY CHRISTINA VEIDERS Managing Editor christina.veiders@penton.com
In contrast to SN's Power 50 listing, BusinessWeek produces a list of the 25 CEOs of Tomorrow. What's intriguing about this list is its focus on how the makeup of future CEOs will change. Given all that has gone on since the financial collapse in late 2008 it is clear that CEOs of tomorrow will come under more government scrutiny, have to be accountable and transparent to their shareholders and customers,

July 19, 2010
Jul 19, 2010, Supermarket News - Subscribers Only

SN Power 50 for 2010
Jul 09, 2010, Supermarket News
This year's Power Players are reinvesting in their companies to spur growth in an uncertain economy.

Rick Cohen
Jul 09, 2010, Supermarket News

Cohen Makes Haiti Relief C&S' Priority
Apr 12, 2010, Supermarket News, By MARK HAMSTRA
KEENE, N.H. As a wholesaler, C&S Wholesale Grocers is skilled at getting products where they need to be. So it should come as no surprise that the company was able to play that role in the wake of January's devastating earthquake in Haiti, when C&S Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rick Cohen spearheaded an all-out effort to provide relief. Don't tell me how little we can do, tell me how much we

Disaster Relief | Food retailers are on the front lines of helping people in need
Apr 12, 2010, Supermarket News
Food retailers, wholesalers and their suppliers are always ready for action when disaster strikes. On the following pages, SN takes a closer look at four individuals who have stepped up in the face of urgent need and helped their companies provide relief from catastrophes both local, as when a brush fire closed in on a small Australian community, and massive, as when the earthquake struck in Haiti

Page:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10  |  Next

All Articles for Rick Cohen