MIKE VAIL

Mark Hamstra

TAMPA, Fla. -- There wasn't much swagger in the step of the folks at Kash n' Karry here just a few years ago.

Mike Vail is hoping to change that. As the senior vice president of operations at the 105-store chain, he's seeking to transform a culture from one that had been focused on avoiding mistakes to one that's focused on successful sales growth.

"This is a company that had thrived in its early years, then had some changes in leadership, went through a bankruptcy, got bought out, was spun off, and really lost its identity," he said. "There was sales erosion and market-share erosion. One of the things I think it was in my power to control was trying to help these people learn how to become winners."

As Delhaize Group, Kash n' Karry's parent company, seeks to convert the chain into a completely new brand called Sweetbay Supermarkets, Vail and his team are also out to instill a new environment at the chain. Vail is focusing on getting the people who manage the Kash n' Karry stores ready to run Sweetbay, which features a strong focus on fresh and prepared foods and locally sourced products.

"At Sweetbay, one of the things we are adamant about is that there's very much a different culture that we expect in the store in terms of empowerment and employee training and knowledge," he said. "We are expecting and demanding a very different caliber of associate. We're not tolerating people who can just hold the keys and lock the doors."

In order to cultivate more of a winning attitude, Vail said, he has focused on quickly giving decision-making power to his managers and encouraging them to build upon small successes. For example, he might start by focusing on building sales first of individual products, then whole categories, departments, and finally the entire store. The idea, he said, is that success and a winning attitude feed off of each other to build more successes.

"Really, the Sweetbay launch has accelerated that feeding frenzy," he said. "We're in a very different place than we were four years ago in this organization."

The company opened its first Sweetbay Supermarket in November and now has seven locations in Florida. Plans call for the conversion of the chain's core Tampa Bay market by next year.

Part of the culture change Vail is instilling in his people is a forward-thinking mentality. He said he always encourages his managers to focus on developing future leaders and to think about long-term success.

"Where are they investing in the future of the business beyond what their budget requirements are?" he said he asks of his managers. "One of the things I am adamant about is that we will be proactive in the way we run our business as opposed to running around all day tracking down things that happened to us."

Shelley Broader, president and chief operating officer, Kash n' Karry, said Vail encourages his staff to make decisions on their own.

"Mike is the type of leader who truly values learning and collaborating," she said. "He provides decision-making tools and coaching to new leaders, better preparing them to 'make the call' for themselves and others."

Vail's encouragement of a forward-thinking mentality at the stores doesn't detract from what he calls the "basic blocking and tackling" required in the business, however.

"You've got to be able to run stores, you've got to have standards, and you've got to have productivity where it needs to be, but that's just the price of entry in my mind," he said. "We have good systems in place that let us do that in a very predictable way, so we're not always trying to chase down a number at the end of the month."

Vail spent his first 15 years in the industry working for Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Bros., Kash n' Karry's sister chain and the source for many of the ideas that have been incorporated into the Sweetbay concept. After several years in operations, he shifted to merchandising before he was asked to transfer to Kash n' Karry three years ago as vice president of merchandising, becoming the first of several Hannaford executives to accept posts at Kash n' Karry.

He was part of the team that helped Kash n' Karry shift from being run under the auspices of Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion, another sister banner under Delhaize, to one that is managed by Hannaford.

When Delhaize brought down Broader to become president of the chain and lead the transformation into Sweetbay, she asked him to return to an operations role. Vail had worked with Broader for about four years before in the merchandising area at Hannaford.

"We always had a great relationship," he said. "She's the kind of boss that really opened my eyes to the impact that creating a positive environment can have in a department or on a company.

"She lets me run my business. I do it with a lot of autonomy, but it's really a product of the environment she creates," he said.

After moving back into operations, Vail brought some more people down from Hannaford and began organizing for the transformation into Sweetbay. Among his initiatives has been the incorporation of pharmacy into the mainstream operations of the stores.

"Operationally, Mike is focused on implementing and executing structural systems needed to manage the critical financial aspects of our business," said Broader. "On the leadership front, Mike and his team are committed to develop retail management group that is passionate, inclusive and participative.

"Mike is tenacious," she said. "He doesn't just see the future. He goes there."

Mike Vail

Senior VP of retail operations, Kash n' Karry/Sweetbay, Tampa, Fla.

Age: 42

Professional background: Vail first worked in retail grocery at age 15. He began his career at Hannaford Bros. while in college. He worked his way up through store management to become a district manager before switching to merchandising as director of deli and prepared foods. After 15 years at Hannaford, he joined Kash n' Karry as vice president of merchandising.

College: Graduated from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, where he majored in business and economics.

Family: Wife, Andrea, and three daughters, ages 12, 10 and 8.

Career mentors: "I've had a lot of mentors in my life. I come from very strong family background with my parents, from whom I learned about integrity and hard work." In addition to his current supervisor, Shelley Broader, president and chief operating officer, Vail cited Rick Anicetti, for whom he worked for three years in operations at Hannaford and who is currently chief executive officer at Food Lion. "He really taught me a lot about tactics and about confidence, and sort of blended what to do with how to do it."