Supervalu streamlines ops, names new presidents

Supervalu reduced its organizational structure from three divisions to two and name Kevin Kemp president of the east region and Bill Chew president of the west region.

The company did not indicate what roles Kemp and Chew played in the organization previously, but did note that the east region will be headquartered in Mechanicsville, VA and the west region will be based in Hopkins, MN near the company’s Eden Prairie headquarters.

The company said the change will streamline the organization and reduce operating costs while continuing to drive sales growth with its current and prospective customers. Supervalu expects to reduce its 35,000 employee workforce by approximately 200 positions throughout its independent business regional teams, but rehire 120 people in new roles for a net loss of only 80 jobs.

Supervalu is one of the nation’s largest grocery wholesalers and retailers in the U.S. with annual sales of approximately $17 billion and a store network consisting of 3,358 units. That network is composed of 1,834 independent stores serviced primarily by the company’s food distribution business, 1,334 Save-A-Lot stores, of which 954 are operated by licensee owners and 190 traditional retail grocery stores.