Fresh Thyme Farmers Market Announces New Executive Team Members

Fresh Thyme Farmers Market—a full-service specialty retailer focusing on value-priced, healthy, natural and organic offerings—has welcomed two new members to its executive team: Carol Okamoto as chief financial officer and Mark Doiron as chief merchandising officer. Both Okamoto and Doiron bring with them extensive retail and grocery experience, and will help to support the growing brand with its rapid expansion goals, say company officials.

“We are excited to have Carol and Mark join the Fresh Thyme family,” says Chris Sherrell, CEO of Fresh Thyme Farmers Market. “They both bring with them extensive experience that will help align our processes to become more efficient, and support our continued growth and success.”

Okamoto brings more than 14 years in the retail industry to her position as chief financial officer. In her new role, Okamoto will oversee accounting, financial planning and analysis, pricing and information technology. Prior to joining the company in early-2017, Okamoto served as controller and later, after the Kroger acquisition, chief financial officer of Wisconsin-based Roundy’s Supermarket’s Inc. While there, she helped with the transition from a publicly traded entity to a subsidiary of the retailing giant. There and in other previous positions, her responsibilities included supply chain for warehouses and transportation, accounting, accounts payable and risk management. Okamoto is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received her MBA from The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. She is a member of the Illinois CPA Society and The American Institute of CPAs.

Doiron brings over 30 years of experience in the food and grocery industries to his position as chief merchandising officer, where he will be responsible for procurement, merchandising and supply chain. He will also oversee the brand’s non-perishables, distribution and marketing departments. Most recently, Doiron served as chief merchant and supply chain officer at Schnuck’s Markets, a supermarket chain based in Missouri. He has also served as president of a frozen food distribution company and chief supply officer for all of Delhaize’s operations in the United States. Grocery is in his DNA, having started his career with Hannaford Brothers, a New England-based grocery chain, where he worked for 12 years, eventually serving as executive vice president of supply chain and merchandising. Doiron is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine.

Since its 2014 inception, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market has opened 62 stores throughout the Midwest, with more planned for 2017. With that has brought an expanded team and an anticipated 2,000 new hires at both the local and corporate level for 2017.