Local Express Names Tedd McCowan Director of Partnerships

Local Express, an e-commerce platform provider for independent grocers, has named longtime grocery industry veteran Tedd McCowan director of partnerships. He will be responsible for developing new supplier, reseller and technology alliances.

“Tedd is exactly who we need to further establish Local Express into the retail grocery industry. He’s an innovative and dedicated IT leader with extensive expertise developing and executing strategies in alignment with corporate objectives, but almost more importantly, he has the most incredible hands-on business experience with leading independent supermarket operators over the last 35 years,” said Bagrat Safarian, co-founder of Local Express, Glendale, Calif.

McCowan has spent the past 25 years managing the IT departments at a succession of California-based supermarket chains, most recently at Mother’s Market & Kitchen, a leading health food grocer in Orange County. He previously worked at Foods Mi Pueblo in Cardenas, Superior Grocers in Santa Fe Springs, Home Grocer/Webvan.com and Big Saver Foods in Commerce. He started his grocery career at McCowan’s Market, his family’s chain based in San Pedro.

“Local Express is the right solution at the exact right time for independent retailers that need to build out their e-commerce platforms to keep up with both larger competitors and digital-only players. I’m excited to be joining the team,” said McCowan.

The Local Express full-service e-commerce platform allows retailers to build an online store presence. It features a database with more than 1 million grocery items along with multiple options for store pickup and delivery.