Raley's Eliminating 5 Top-Level Positions

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In an effort to reduce costs, Raley's Supermarkets here has eliminated one of its 10 executive committee positions and plans to cut four more by the end of June. Michael Teel, president and chief executive officer, said the cutbacks "have nothing to do with performance issues — it's simply that we can't afford that kind of structure in today's competitive marketplace."

The five people affected are Dave Clark, chief operating officer and, before Teel's hiring, interim president, and Joan Miszak, senior vice president, organizational effectiveness, who will stay on till the end of Raley's fiscal year on June 30; Michelle Cervantez, chief marketing officer, and Todd McHenry, chief legal counsel, who will remain until the end of this month; and Joel Barton, senior vice president, sales and merchandising, whose job has already been eliminated.

Teel told SN he approved the cuts on the recommendation of Clark and Miszak, who were part of a four-member committee asked to find ways to lower administrative expenses. "We realized there were just too many layers for a company of our size," he noted.

According to Teel, Raley's has been reducing store level costs over the last 18 months — utilizing various systems to help improve scheduling and reduce pricing — "so now we had to walk the walk at the administrative level." He said there would no cutbacks among store-level personnel but declined to comment if additional administrative staff cuts would be forthcoming.

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