MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Janel Haugarth, Executive Vice President and President, Independent Business and Supply Chain Services for SuperValu, announced yesterday that she is retiring the day after Christmas, 2015.
“I feel very fortunate to have spent my career working for SuperValu and so grateful to have worked with such amazing employees, suppliers and customers for nearly 40 years,” Haugarth said, according to a press release. “It will be hard to leave this great company and all these great people, but I’m looking forward to the next phase of my life and am confident that SuperValu is well-positioned going forward.”
In the almost four decades she has been with the company, Haugarth has overseen and directed the realignment and consolidation of SuperValu’s wholesale operations, introduced a National Sales Expo that the chain says attracted more than 4,000 attendees in the last two years, and achieved several other accomplishments to add to its growth and initiatives.
“Janel has been a tremendous advocate for this company throughout her SuperValu career,” SuperValu CEO and President Sam Duncan stated in the release. “It has been an absolute pleasure to have worked with Janel for the past two and one-half years. Her knowledge of the industry and her passion for helping our independent retailers succeed is second to none.”
In her stead, current President of Cub Foods Mike Stigers has been appointed Executive Vice President, Independent Business and Supply Chain. With more than 40 years experience in grocery, four of which have been with SuperValu in a number of leadership roles, he will succeed Haugarth officially on December 27.
In his new position, Stigers will report to Bruce Besanko, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of SuperValu.
“Mike is a terrific and well respected leader with deep knowledge of the grocery industry and strong relationships across our entire retail and wholesale business,” Duncan said.
He concluded that he and the company are grateful to Haugarth for her many years of leadership and wish her all the best in this new chapter, expressing confidence that wholesale operations and consumers will be in capable hands as Stigers succeeds her.
