Festival Foods adds Leslie Atkinson as VP of marketing

Leslie Atkinson has joined Festival Foods as vice president of marketing, coming over from Brookshire Grocery Co.

Green Bay, Wis.-based Festival Foods said Atkinson starts in the role effective today. She held the same post in leading marketing in her 14-month tenure at Brookshire, which operates 178 supermarkets under four retail banners in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

“I’m thrilled to join the Festival Foods family,” Atkinson (left) said in a statement. “I deeply admire and connect with the culture and look forward to collaborating with the leadership and marketing teams to drive continued growth through a continued focus on the guest experience and associate development.”

Atkinson brings more than 20 years of marketing leadership experience to Festival Foods. Before joining Brookshire in August 2018, she served nearly 14 years in a range of senior marketing leadership roles at Delhaize America and then at Ahold Delhaize USA. Atkinson joined Delhaize in 2004 as the executive marketing leader of the Bloom store banner. Shortly after, she was named to develop the brand strategy and lead the marketing, media and creative strategies for the discount banner Bottom Dollar Food as director of marketing and brand development from 2005 to 2014. Then in mid-2014, she was promoted to lead brand positioning, marketing, media strategy and creative execution for the 1,100-store Food Lion banner.

Related:Festival Foods hires Jeff Main to lead IT

“Leslie’s extensive knowledge of brand building and marketing will be vital to Festival Foods’ continued success, especially during this period of sustained growth,” stated Randy Munns, Festival Foods executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We are confident Leslie will be a tremendous asset and a great fit as a member of the Festival Foods leadership team.”

Munns was promoted to COO in January with the retirement of Mike Mesich, senior vice president of operations. Other executive appointments by Festival this year include Frank Abnet as senior vice president of store operations, Sean Sanders as vice president of center store, Joe Zink as vice president of center store merchandising, Ken Wicker as senior vice president of fresh foods, and Jeff Main as vice president of information technology.

Overall, family- and employee-owned Festival Foods operates 34 full-service supermarkets in Wisconsin and employs more than 7,500 full- and part-time associates.