EXECUTIVE CHANGES 2008-02-04

FORMER ALBERTSONS PRESIDENT JOINS TOPS BOARD

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — Tops Markets here said last week it has named Gregory Josefowicz, a former executive with Albertsons and with Borders Group, to its board of directors. He joins Frank Curci, chief executive officer of Tops, on the board, along with Greg Matthews and Geoff Strong, both of Morgan Stanley Private Equity, which acquired Tops last year. Josefowicz was a former president of Albertsons' Midwest Region and held senior positions at Jewel Food Stores before he became chairman, president and CEO of Borders Group. He previously served on the board of Spartan Stores and currently serves on the board of Winn-Dixie Stores.

FOUR EXECUTIVES PROMOTED AT BASHAS'

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Bashas' here said Christie Frazier-Coleman has been named to the new position of vice president, strategic initiatives. She was formerly senior vice president, sales and merchandising, for the 160-store chain. Succeeding her in that position will be Robert Ortiz, formerly vice president, sales and merchandising, for Food City, Bashas' Hispanic format. In his new post, Ortiz will oversee sales and merchandising for all of the company's conventional, Hispanic, fresh and upscale formats. Succeeding him as vice president of sales and merchandising at Food City will be Cisco Echeverria, formerly director of merchandising for non-perishable departments there. His post, in turn, will be taken by Mike Solis, formerly a merchandising specialist.

EMBERGER JOINS GIANT AS CORPORATE NUTRITIONIST

CARLISLE, Pa. — Giant Food Stores here has hired Sylvia Emberger as the company's corporate nutritionist, reporting to Shirley Axe, acting manager for health and wellness. Emberger will be responsible for helping to set the strategic direction for Giant's health and wellness programming and will oversee the in-store nutritionists under the company's Giant Food and Martin's Food Markets banners. She brings to the company more than 30 years of experience in research, quality assurance and clinical nutrition. Most recently Emberger was with the Hershey Co. in the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, where she focused on nutrition labeling and nutrition profiling of products.

GRISTEDE'S APPOINTS NEW STORE SECURITY CHIEF

NEW YORK — Gristede's Foods, which operates 39 supermarkets here and in the nearby suburbs, said last week that Renee Flores has been appointed chief of the chain's security and asset protection department. She most recently was director of loss prevention at Gap/Old Navy stores. Prior to that, she was director of asset protection for the Food Emporium chain of supermarkets.

H-E-B VETERAN LAUNCHES MARKET RESEARCH FIRM

ACWORTH, Ga. — Keri H. Kokayi, a former business analyst at H.E. Butt Grocery Co. who most recently was global leader of market research at IBM Corp., has formed Pyetho, a market research firm based here. Kokayi, who is president and chief executive officer of Pyetho, worked at Procter & Gamble and Unilever before joining H-E-B in the late 1990s, where he worked in category management and negotiated agreements with data providers A.C. Nielsen and Information Resources Inc. At IBM, he focused on negotiating agreements with data providers on behalf of CPG companies. Pyetho specializes in negotiating market research and providing other marketing services and management consulting for both CPG companies and retailers.