Marshall Out at A&P, Martin Named CEO

MARK HAMSTRA

MONTVALE, N.J. — A&P here on Friday said Ron Marshall, who had just joined the struggling supermarket operator as chief executive officer in February, has left the company.

Ron Marshall

Succeeding him is Sam Martin, who most recently was chief operating officer at Office Max and before that had spent several years in senior management positions at Wild Oats Market, ShopKo Stores and Fred Meyer Inc.

Both Fred Meyer and Wild Oats were previous holdings of Yucaipa Cos., which last year acquired a 27.6% stake in A&P.

Marshall was a former executive at Pathmark Stores, which is now owned by A&P, and after that had spent several years as CEO of Minneapolis-based Nash Finch Co.

“The board and the company’s major shareholders, Tengelmann and Yucaipa, have been instrumental in developing what I believe is the right turnaround strategy for A&P,” said Christian Haub, A&P’s executive chairman, in a prepared statement. “As we moved to the implementation and execution stage of this comprehensive operational and revenue-driven turnaround, the board determined that the company needed a leader at the helm with the skill set Sam Martin possesses. Sam is a proven, hands-on operational expert in the food retail industry. He has an ideal mix of food industry management experience encompassing operations, merchandising and supply chain.”

A&P on Friday also reported a first-quarter loss of $122.6 million, compared with loss of $65.2 million in the year-ago period. Sales for the quarter were down more than 8%, to $2.6 billion, and comparable-store sales fell 7.2%.

Haub said the company was seeking to implement new financing initiatives, including obtaining more financing through its current bank facility, through sale-leaseback transactions and the sale of “certain non-core assets.”