Learning From a Trip Abroad

MARK HAMSTRA

ELIZABETH, N.J. — Jeff O'Brien makes the hour-plus drive from his office at Wakefern Food Corp.'s former headquarters here to St. Joseph's University about one a month or so to take classes in the Executive Master's in Food Marketing program.

But one of his classes recently required a trip of much longer duration — a flight to Ireland, where he observed a way of doing business that offered fresh insights for his own responsibilities as merchandising manager for Wakefern's 60-store Southern Division.

“It was an outstanding experience,” O'Brien said of the Ireland trip, noting especially the local operators' focus on traceability and private label.

“Over there the country of origin is very important — they are going to try to sell everything from Ireland if they can, and they do a pretty good job of it,” he said.

“Of course, private label is also a big thing over there, and the acceptance of private label over there is something we can reference in our operations here.”

O'Brien has worked for Wakefern, which has recently moved to Keasby, N.J., for the past 27 years. He's held a variety of positions in buying and merchandising, and his current job entails working as a liaison to Wakefern for independent ShopRite operators in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

He said he decided to go back to school to expand his industry knowledge.

“I really enjoy the industry I am in, but I thought this would give me a little more ‘book smarts,’ and a little more cross-training with parts of the business other than what I had concentrated on, and I thought I had the energy to do it,” he said. “It has been a terrific experience.”

The structure of the program, in which students attend a series of intensive, two-day classes on Fridays and Saturdays, teaches “a little bit of everything,” he said.

“If you are very skilled at advertising, for example, they can give you even more than you already know.”

He said he has benefited both from the class work itself, which often extends well beyond the actual classroom with research and follow-up reports, and from interaction with other students.

“The marketing programs and the advertising programs we studied in school make you stop and rethink about the things you are doing, and maybe make better business decisions,” he said. “There is also a big benefit from networking with other people from the industry, and seeing how they are handling their challenges and opportunities as well.

“Having all those different talents from all the areas of the business really make the class enlightening. We have had some great guest speakers, and it has been great to hear all the different questions and answers because they really get a great group of talented students.”

JEFF O'BRIEN

TITLE: Merchandising Manager, Wakefern Food Corp.

EDUCATION: Executive Master's in Food Marketing, St. Joseph's University