EXECUTIVE CHANGES 1996-12-23 (3)

Goodspeed Resigns From ECR Committee

peed, president and chief operating officer of Vons Cos. here, has resigned as co-chairman of the Efficient Consumer Response Executive Committee.

A successor is expected to be named early next year.

The ECR committee is co-chaired by a distributor and a manufacturer. Al Carey, chief operating officer of Frito-Lay Co., Plano, Texas, a division of PepsiCo, New York continues as the manufacturer co-chairman.

A Vons official said Goodspeed's decision to resign was prompted by his concern that he would not be able to devote sufficient time to the ECR committee in light of the pending retirement next spring of Lawrence A. Del Santo as Vons chairman and chief executive officer.

Goodspeed had been designated Del Santo's successor prior to Safeway's effort to acquire Vons. With last week's definitive agreement between the two chains, Goodspeed is scheduled to head the Vons division of Safeway once the deal is completed in March or April.

Michael Sansolo, group vice president of the Food Marketing Institute, Washington, said Goodspeed's successor will be selected by the FMI with input from the distributor members of the ECR Executive Committee and members of the FMI Industry Relations Committee.

Eck Tapped to Lead Coles Myer

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Coles Myer here has named Dennis Eck managing director and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.

Eck, 53, the former president and chief executive officer of Vons Cos., Arcadia, Calif., succeeds Peter Bartels, who resigned as managing director and chief executive officer, effective Dec. 31, after four years at the helm.

Eck joined Coles Myer as a consultant in 1994 after leaving Vons. He was appointed managing director, supermarkets, in May 1994; group managing director, basic needs, in November 1995, and chief operating officer, business units, last April. He was named a Coles Myer director in November.

No successor will be named to Eck's former position.

Nobby Clark, Coles Myer chairman, said he will retire from his position, as scheduled, in July.

Local observers said they credit Eck with making Coles Supermarkets more competitive by pushing buyers and store staffs to work together more closely, focusing on customer needs, making the relationship between the stores and suppliers less combative, and using product to sell product (densing up).

Since instituting those programs in 1994, supermarket sales are up 24% and earnings before interest and taxes are up 29.5%.