Donckers Named Mi Pueblo President

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mi Pueblo Food Centers here said Rich Donckers has been named president of the 14-store chain.

Donckers was formerly vice president, food retailing, of Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark., between 1987 and 1993, where he was responsible for creating the company's food division and for developing its food management organization and strategy.

Neither Donckers nor other Mi Pueblo representatives were available for comment late Monday. Annual volume at Mi Pueblo is estimated at $275 million.

According to published reports, Donckers started his industry career at H.E. Butt Grocery Co., San Antonio, where he spent seven years, some of which were spent developing the chain's superstores; and 15 years with Jewel Cos., the Chicago-based division of the former American Stores Co., prior to joining Wal-Mart in 1983.

In 1998 Donckers set up Retail Strategies International, a consulting firm based in Rogers, Ark. He developed an upscale fresh meals/specialty food retail company called MarketFoods, which opened its first location in Rogers in 2000 and a second location, in Tulsa, Okla., in 2004, before it filed for bankruptcy in 2005, published reports said.