Mike Teel

OWNER AND CHAIRMAN RALEY’S FAMILY OF FINE STORES

A purpose-driven mission is the fuel powering Raley’s Mike Teel’s charge to change the grocery world—one conventional candy bar and can of soda at a time. At his behest, West Sacramento, Calif.-based Raley’s implemented a series of audacious moves, such as reducing candy by 25%, eliminating all conventional candy and carbonated sodas at the front end and abolishing private label soda and tobacco in its stores. He also launched a series of videos last year featuring his personal viewpoints on a number of hotly debated topics. In the first of eight videos, Teel focuses on the topic of sugar in packaged goods. Raley’s also debuted a new small-format unicorn store, Market 5-One-5, that Teel calls “a pointer for us—pointing us to where we’re going.”