Save Mart President to Step Down

New York City Bob Spengler, the president and COO of Save Mart Supermarkets, announced that he plans to retire Jan. 4, according to the East Bay Business Times.

Spengler initially retired from Modesto, Calif.-based Save Mart in December 2005. He returned in October 2006 to help lead the effort to acquire Albertsons LLC.

Save Mart became major player in the Bay Area grocery market after buying 130 former Albertsons stores throughout Northern California. Under Spengler’s leadership, the company resurrected the Lucky store name for 72 of those locations in the Bay Area, restoring a name that had been a staple of the local supermarket scene until now-defunct Albertson’s Inc. dropped the name when it bought the chain in 1998.