Fairway Group taps veteran grocery retailer Jack Murphy as CEO

New York -- Fairway Group Holdings Corp. has named Jack Murphy, a veteran retail executive with strong experience in specialty food retailing, as CEO.



Murphy was a co-founder of natural foods grocer Fresh Fields, which was sold to Whole Foods Market. Most recently he served as CEO of Earth Fare, an organics and natural food chain with locations in the Southeast and Midwest.



"We believe that Jack brings very strong leadership to Fairway, and possesses highly relevant marketing and merchandising skills that are complementary to our organization," said Charles Santoro, chairman of Fairway Market. "Jack has developed and implemented business strategies for unique and highly differentiated brands, and brings great enthusiasm, perspective and leadership to the company."



In related news, Bill Sanford, who was appointed interim CEO in February while Fairway undertook a search for a new CEO, has decided to leave the company to pursue other interests.