MARSHALL TO RESIGN FROM NASH FINCH

Mark Hamstra

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nash Finch Co. here last week said Ron Marshall, chief executive officer, would resign effective March 2, 2006.

"I've always believed that a life well-lived has several different stops in it, and I'm not sure what the next one's going to be," he told SN last week. "This will give me some time to reflect on what I really want to do."

The company said Marshall will remain CEO and a director until his resignation and will assist in the search for a successor.

Allister Graham, chairman, Nash Finch, will chair the committee conducting that search. "[Marshall] gave us great leadership, created a culture of continuous improvement and a sense of commitment and direction," Graham said in a prepared statement.

Marshall joined Nash Finch in 1998 after serving as chief financial officer at Pathmark Stores, Carteret, N.J.

"Clearly Nash Finch was a company that seven years ago had more than its share of challenges," Marshall told SN.

Recently the company has cut back its retail operations and expanded its wholesale business significantly. The company's stock has been one of the best performers in the industry in the last year, and was trading near 52-week highs late last week.

"I think the company is well-positioned in a very difficult industry," Marshall said. "If you are going to do something like this, you do it when things are going well. I feel good about the team we have in place, I feel good about the customers that we have, and I feel very, very good about the direction the company is headed."