Dan Croce Joins Sprouts as SVP

Dan Croce has departed his SVP role at Albertsons’ Philadelphia-based Acme Markets division this week to join Sprouts Farmers Market as SVP of the Phoenix-based retailer’s eastern division.

In his new role, Croce will oversee operations for Sprouts’ new batch of stores that are in the pipeline along the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic, as well as approximately 100 of the Phoenix-based fresh-focused retailer’s existing stores in Texas, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Maryland, according to sources.

Croce had been with Acme Markets since 2005 and served as division president from 2015 to 2017. He was replaced as president last year when one-time Acme President Jim Perkins returned to the division with eyes on prepping to switch over to its parent company's back-end platform this summer. 

A spokesperson for Sprouts wasn't immediately available for comment.

Sprouts opened its first Mid-Atlantic store in Ellicott City, Md., in March 14 and will cross the Mason-Dixon Line by the end of the year with its first location in Pennsylvania at Broad St. and Washington Ave. in Philadelphia, as part of a 30-store expansion in 2018. Sprouts Farmers Market will hit a milestone on June 13 when it opens the doors of its 300th store located in Simpsonville, S.C. The retailer’s first location in the Palmetto State is in tandem with its ongoing eastern U.S. expansion, which includes 13 new locations set to open in the third quarter of 2018.

Related:Sprouts Named 2018 Grocery Business of the Year

Sprouts, which was named as WGB's Grocery Business of the Year in 2018, is opening 16 stores during the first half of the year and will operate in 19 states by the end of 2018.

New Sprouts stores opening in the third quarter of 2018:

Durham, N.C. – 105 West NC Highway 54

El Paso, Texas – 9801 Gateway Boulevard West

Las Vegas, Nev. – 1140 East Silverado Ranch Boulevard

Las Vegas, Nev. – 6150 North Decatur Boulevard

Las Vegas, Nev. – 7375 South Rainbow Boulevard

Lodi, Calif. – 250 East Harney Lane

Mill Creek, Wash. – 13314 Bothell-Everett Highway

Oklahoma City, Okla. – South Pennsylvania Avenue and 119th Street

Philadelphia, Pa. – 1000 South Broad Street

Phoenix, Ariz. – 3320 North Seventh Avenue

Sacramento, Calif. – 2735 Marconi Avenue

Towson, Md. – 830 Goucher Boulevard

Vacaville, Calif. – 1041 Helen Power Drive