EXECUTIVE ROUNDUP 1998-03-16

Grand Union Co. Taps Corporate VP

has been elected corporate vice president of Grand Union Co. here.

Most recently, Smith was vice president and general counsel. In his new post, he maintains his previous responsibilities and reports to Jack W. Partridge, vice chairman and chief administrative officer.

Smith joined Grand Union in 1995 as director of labor relations and employment practices. Last year he was named vice president of labor and employment counsel before being named vice president and general counsel.

This move marks the first time the company has had a general counsel as a corporate vice president, said Donald Vaillancourt, corporate vice president for public affairs.

Kroger Division Names President

CINCINNATI -- Kroger Co. here has disclosed that Geoffrey J. Covert succeeds Ronald R. Rice as president of Kroger Manufacturing and has been named group vice president. Rice, part of the company for 41 years, plans to retire in June.

Covert began working at Kroger in 1996 as vice president of the grocery products group. Previously, he had been with Procter & Gamble for 22 years in a number of management positions. Before leaving P&G, he was responsible for the company's manufacturing purchasing, customer service and contract manufacturing for its hard-surface cleaning business in North America.

In his new position Covert reports to David Dylan, president and chief operating officer.

Andrew B. Lewis, director of marketing and sales, succeeds Covert as vice president of grocery products. With Kroger since 1977, Lewis has held various sales and marketing positions in the manufacturing division.

Kroger operates 1,392 food stores, 831 convenience stores and 36 manufacturing plants in 32 states.

Bashas' Adds Food Safety Post

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- Tom Dominick has been named to the new post of coordinator of food safety for Bashas' Markets here. In this position, Dominick oversees sanitation issues and trains employees in sanitation techniques. He reports to Sonny Felix, senior vice president of warehousing and distribution for the company.

Dominick comes to Bashas' from Maricopa County, Arizona, where he spent six-and-a-half years in such positions as inspector and environmental-health lead specialist. Dominick also developed the hand-held computer program used by inspectors when checking out a location.

Bashas' has 94 stores, primarily in the state of Arizona. It also operates stores under the names of AJ's Fine Foods, Food City, Bashas' Mercado, Bashas' Bargain Basket and Mega Foods.

AWG Appoints Vice President

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Associated Wholesale Grocers here has named Frank Tricamo corporate vice president for human resources.

Tricamo, who came to AWG in 1993 as director of human resources, was most recently corporate executive director of human resources, a position he has held since January of 1996. Before joining AWG, Tricamo worked with a number of different companies, including May Department Stores and Furr's Food Stores.

In this new post, Tricamo is responsible for personnel policies and activities. He reports to Doug Carolan, executive vice president.