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MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu Inc. president and chief executive officer Sam Duncan plans to retire on February 29, 2016, following the end of the company’s current fiscal year.
Supervalu Inc. president and chief executive officer Sam Duncan plans to retire on February 29, 2016, following the end of the company’s current fiscal year.
Duncan was named president and CEO in February 2013 in connection with the company’s sale of five retail grocery banners to Albertsons. That deal significantly scaled back Supervalu’s retail supermarket business, and under Duncan’s leadership, the company repositioned itself around three core business segments: independent business, Save-A-Lot and its five remaining regional retail food banners.
"Sam has made a tremendous contribution to Supervalu during his tenure as president and CEO," said Jerry Storch, non-executive chairman of the board. "He helped stabilize the business following the sale of the five retail grocery banners and has led a turn-around in the performance of the entire company including improving the performance of all three of its core business segments. The company is in a better place today because of Sam’s leadership."
Storch said the board process for naming a successor to Duncan is underway, including consideration of internal and external candidates.
Supervalu also announced on Thursday that Bruce Besanko has been promoted to the newly-created role of executive vice president and chief operating officer, reporting to Duncan, and that Susan Grafton has been promoted to executive vice president and chief financial officer, reporting to Besanko. Both appointments are effective immediately.
In his role as COO, Besanko will remain responsible for Supervalu’s finance function, and assume oversight of the company’s independent business operations, five regional retail food banners, and its merchandising, marketing, and pharmacy functions.
"I’m very pleased that Bruce has been promoted to the role of COO for our company," Duncan said. "He has done a superb job as CFO for Supervalu, working with me and the leadership team on all aspects of the Company’s turnaround success. He is an astute businessman who has always impressed me with his leadership and how he deals with business challenges and opportunities. In this role, I am confident he’ll help lead our operations teams to successfully plan and execute against our future business strategies."
Duncan continued, "Additionally, we are very fortunate to have Susan in our ranks as someone who can step right into the CFO role. She has a tremendous financial background and has been instrumental in helping us reposition our financial organization and the overall business over the past one and one-half years."
Duncan, 63, is retiring to spend more time with his family in the Pacific Northwest, the company said.
