Rite Aid appoints Donald to board

CAMP HILL, Pa. The board of directors of Rite Aid has announced the appointment of Jim Donald to the board. Donald’s term will expire at the company’s annual meeting in June 2009, at which time he is expected to stand for re-election.

Donald is the former president and ceo of Starbucks Coffee Company. He joined Starbucks in October 2002 as president, North America, where he managed business development and operations for all Starbuck stores in the U.S. and Canada and in March 2005, was promoted to president and ceo.

During his 30-year retail career Donald helped lead Wal-Mart’s development and expansion of the Wal-Mart Super Center, where he oversaw all merchandising, distribution, store design and real estate operations from 1991 to 1994. He has also served in a variety of senior management positions with Albertson’s and Safeway, where he had a reputation for improving the financial performance of stores under his supervision.