Huff Named Jewel President

SN STAFF

ITASCA, Ill. — Wal-Mart and Cub Foods veteran Brian Huff was named as the new president of Jewel-Osco here, parent company Supervalu said Thursday.

He will succeed Keith Nielsen, a 40-year Jewel veteran who said he plans to retire effective at the end of Supervalu's fiscal year on Feb. 28, Supervalu said. Nielsen had been president since 2007.

"I am very proud of the work we’ve accomplished at Jewel during my tenure as president, but I’m looking forward to retiring and spending more time with my family," said Nielsen in a prepared statement.

Huff most recently was senior vice president of specialty retail at Minneapolis-based Supervalu. He previously had been president of the company's Cub Foods division and, before joining Supervalu in 2003, was vice president of merchandising at Wal-Mart. He will begin his new position at Jewel on Feb. 7.

Huff has also held positions at Price Chopper, Bruno’s and Metro Food Markets.

The change is the latest in a series of high-level departures at Supervalu, including that of Steve Jungmann as executive vice president of merchandising, retail, earlier this month.