Festival Foods Names New COO, Announces Other Leadership Changes

Mike Mesich has bid farewell to Festival Foods. The 14-year veteran of the De Pere, Wis.-based grocer retired Dec. 31 from his role as senior VP of operations. Frank Abnet, previously VP of operations, succeeds Mesich in the SVP role, and Randy Munns, who was senior VP of marketing and merchandising, has been promoted to chief operating officer. 

Munns, in the COO role, will continue to lead fresh food and center store departments as well as marketing and merchandising, according to the company.

Festival Foods President and CEO Mark Skogen called Mesich's leadership of store operations "exceptional" and said Mesich's legacy in the chain's culture will endure. Festival Foods noted in a news release announcing the leadership changes that Mesich helped open 25 of the company's 33 grocery stores. The most recent openings came in fall 2019 in Milwaukee and Verona, Wis.

Family- and employee-owned Festival Foods was founded in 1946 as Skogen's IGA. In 2020, Mark Skogen received the Robert B. Wegman Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.