PRESIDENT, CEO APPOINTED BY BIG V

MICHAEL HARRISON

FLORIDA, N.Y. -- Big V Supermarkets here has named retail discount store veteran Mark S. Schwartz the company's new president and chief executive officer, effective March 22.

Schwartz succeeds Joseph Fisher, who left Big V late last year to become president and CEO of Penn Traffic Co., Syracuse, N.Y. Schwartz was president and CEO of Hechinger Co., a Maryland retail home-improvement chain. He left that post last week.

Before coming to Hechinger, Schwartz held several senior positions during a 15-year tenure with Wal-Mart, including the titles of president and director general of the company's supercenters in Mexico.

David Bronstein, Big V's chairman and the acting president and CEO during the company's executive search, described Schwartz as "a strong leader with fire in the belly." He also referred to Schwartz' Wal-Mart background and his "proven record as a leader." According to Bronstein, "Mark is one of the few people tutored and trained by [Wal-Mart founder] Sam Walton."

Making a reference to traditional food retailers' acute awareness of new, competing channels, Bronstein noted that Schwartz "has experience in nonfood operations" and "the more we look to a new decade and a blurring of the lines, a company our size needs a real entrepreneurial type with vision and leadership."

Schwartz told SN he's impressed with Big V's attention to general merchandise.