Topco Elevates 2 Execs

Topco has promoted two key members of its team, including SVP and CFO Tom Frey, who has been named EVP while retaining his CFO title. Christine Heffernan, VP of center store, has been promoted to SVP of the category.

“These two well-deserved promotions will allow Topco to further drive our strategic business objectives as we continue to expand our platform to provide products and services to help our member-owners thrive in the changing grocery industry,” said Randy Skoda, Topco president and CEO, in a statement.

In his elevated role, Frey will expand his responsibilities to include oversight of Topco’s pharmacy program, health and wellness initiatives and Avantis Technology Partners, a joint venture with the Audit Technology Group (ATG). The partnership combines ATG’s transaction data aggregation analytics platform with Topco’s category management expertise to provide retailers with on-demand views of vendor performance through a SaaS application known as TradeView Analytics.

Prior to joining the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Topco in 2008, Frey served as VP and CFO of Dominick’s Finer Foods. Previously, he held a variety of positions with increasing responsibility at McCain Foods USA, Deluxe Video Services Inc., The Quaker Oats Co. and Ernst & Young. A certified public accountant, Frey holds a B.S. in commerce from DePaul University and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Related:Topco Members Honored

In her new SVP role, Heffernan will now manage Topco’s member services department, warehouse operations, logistics and shopper insights. Over the past few years, Heffernan has led several important projects at Topco, including building a new sourcing and category model for the center store team. She also presided over the launch of one of Topco’s strategic brands, Simply Done.

Heffernan joined Topco in 2002 as part of the merger with Shurfine International. She was named program director in 2008, center store business unit lead in 2014 and VP of center store in 2016. Prior to joining Topco, Heffernan held several leadership positions at Shurfine International, including director of member services. She holds a bachelor’s degree in food industry management from Cornell University.

“With Tom and Christine’s extensive experience and combined industry knowledge, we are well-positioned to partner for growth and deliver further savings across Topco programs,” said Skoda, noting that both execs “have taken on initiatives that have been instrumental in advancing our strategic priorities to the membership.”