Former Giant Eagle CEO Karet joins Arko's board

Three months after leaving her role as the longtime CEO of Giant Eagle, Laura Karet has been named to the board of directors for convenience retailer Arko Corp.

Arko's board voted last week to expand its size from seven directors to eight, and Karet was named to fill the newly created vacancy.

At the same time, the board appointed Avram (Avi) Friedman as a director, filling the vacancy created by the previously reported resignation of Starlette Johnson. Johnson resigned from the board effective May 5.

Friedman will serve as a director for the remainder of Johnson's term, which expires on the date of the company's 2025 annual meeting of stockholders. Karet will serve as a director for a term expiring at the company's 2024 annual meeting. She was appointed to the board's Audit Committee, and Nominating and Governance Committee.

Karet has over 30 years of experience in the grocery and consumer products industries. She was chief executive officer of Giant Eagle Inc. from 2012 to 2023. She also served as the chairman of Giant Eagle's board of directors. From 2000 to 2012, Karet served as vice president of marketing of Giant Eagle. She left Giant Eagle in March.

Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle is also the parent company of the GetGo Café Market convenience-store chain.

Prior to joining Giant Eagle, Karet was a marketing executive at the Sara Lee Corp. and a brand manager at the Procter & Gamble Co., where she oversaw such household names such as Secret antiperspirant, Folgers coffee, and Crisco. Karet is a Trustee for the Brookings Institution and the Committee for Economic Development. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Arko board appointed Friedman to serve on the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee.

Friedman is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School since 2021. From 2001 to 2020, he worked at Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, where he was a managing member.

Previously, Friedman was a director of GPM Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Arko Corp., from 2014-2020.

Richmond, Virginia-based Arko Corp. operates in four reportable segments: retail, wholesale, fleet fueling and GPM Petroleum, which sells and supplies fuel to its retail and wholesale sites. GPM Investments owns and operates c-store brands including Fas Mart, Shore Stop, Scotchman, BreadBox, Young's, Li'l Cricket, Next Door Store, Village Pantry, Apple Market, Jiffi Stop, Admiral, Roadrunner Markets, Jiffy Food Marts, E-Z Mart, 1 Stop, TownStarr, ExpressStop and Handy Mart.