DLJ CONFERENCE 2000

DAVID GHITELMAN

NEW YORK -- A&P, Montvale, N.J., last week said it was combining its Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in a move designed in part to improve the performance of Super Fresh, its banner in the Philadelphia and Baltimore-Washington metro areas.

Christian Haub, A&P chief executive officer, called Super Fresh "our last remaining challenge." He added, "Candidly, the progress at Super Fresh has been slower and more difficult than we had expected."

Haub spoke at the Annual Food & Drug Retailing Conference here sponsored by the New York investment firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

The new management organization, the Atlantic region, is to manage the A&P, Waldbaum and Food Emporium operations in New York and New Jersey, the A&P and Super Foodmarket operations in New England and the Super Fresh operations.

Based at the company's Paterson, N.J., complex, the Atlantic region, scheduled to start operating Feb. 27, the start of A&P's new fiscal year, will also manage marketing, purchasing and merchandising for the region.

Haub went on to outline how the company hopes to improve the situation at Super Fresh, partially through new stores, partially through management changes.

"We certainly have a lot more work to do with our store base," Haub said, adding the company is working to "improve the quality of our work force at store level."

He also said the banner's new stores, particularly those in Baltimore, "are doing very well."

As for management changes, the new Atlantic region structure should give Super Fresh additional support, Haub said.

Bill McEwan, formerly president and chief merchandising officer for A&P Canada, Toronto, has been named president and chief executive officer for the Atlantic region. McEwan reports to Michael J. Larkin, A&P senior executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Haub termed the accomplishments of the company's Canada division under McEwan's stewardship "a remarkable turnaround story" in his talk at the DLJ conference. He said comparable-store sales had gone from a decline of 1.6% in 1996 to an increase of 6.7% in 1999.

Other personnel changes include naming David A. Smithies, currently president of Waldbaum, president of the Northeast operations group, and David Hoalt, currently president of the Super Fresh group, president of the Mid-Atlantic operations group. Smithies, Hoalt and Louis Ruggiero, president of A&P's Food Emporium division, whose independent status will not be affected by the reorganization, report directly to McEwan. The company also said it will soon appoint a senior vice president of marketing and merchandising for the region, who will also report to McEwan.

"The creation of the Atlantic region will provide significant new coordination and support to our Super Fresh operation in fiscal-year 2000," Haub told the investment conference.