Supervalu Names Bly President of Shoppers

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu here Monday said former Sears and Meijer executive Robert Bly will take over as president of its Shoppers Food & Pharmacy chain effective Aug. 22.

Bly replaces Tim Lowe, who earlier this year was named senior vice president of merchandising for Supervalu. Shoppers, based in Bowie, Md., operates 56 stores in the Washington-Baltimore metro area.

Bly, 49, most recently served as vice president of Kmart and Sears divisions for the Sears Holdings Co., and has significant experience turning around underperforming retail operations, Supervalu said. At Kmart and Sears, he worked on efforts to improve sales and profits while increasing productivity and efficiency.

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Prior to Sears, Bly held positions with Road Ranger, a convenience store chain, and spent 22 years with Meijer, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based grocery and general merchandise chain where he held executive and store-level positions and implemented strategic plans to improve sales, inventory management and operational execution.