Executive of the Year

With her familiarity of Hannaford and her firsthand knowledge of Food Lion banners, Cathy Green is known as a retail supermarket executive from Maine to Miami.

Starting as a store clerk at Hannaford, she has spent more than 22 years in the supermarket industry, rising quickly through many executive positions at Hannaford and Food Lion.

Ms. Green recently assumed leadership as president of the Food Lion family of banners, which includes Food Lion, Bloom, Harveys and Reid's.

In her new role, Ms. Green will lead all banner operations for the Food Lion family, including store financial performance, merchandising, pricing, customer service and marketing.

"Cathy is an outstanding leader with significant retail expertise," said Mr. Hodge. "Her in-depth knowledge of the grocery industry will significantly benefit the Food Lion family of banners. She is a leader who operates with the customer in mind, focused on delivering excellent service, quality products and lower prices to our customers. Her leadership will be visible to customers and associates through her drive and passion for the business."

Ms. Green most recently served as chief operating officer (COO) for Food Lion LLC, where she was responsible for overseeing operations for Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food, Harveys and Reid's.

Prior to being named COO, Ms. Green served Food Lion as senior vice president for the chain's northern retail operations and previously as senior vice president of fresh merchandising, distribution and quality assurance. She joined Food Lion in 2002 from its sister grocery chain, Hannaford Supermarkets, where she held the title of vice president of fresh merchandising.

She began her career at Hannaford as a part-time clerk while attending high school and college. Later, she completed the grocer’s retail training program and went on to hold several management positions, including assistant store manager, perishable manager and store manager.

Prior to being named chief operating officer of Food Lion LLC in 2005, she was Food Lion’s vice president of retail operations–north and previously served as vice president of fresh merchandising, distribution and quality assurance.

"I look forward to delivering the great prices that customers in our 11-state operating area have come to expect from the Food Lion family of banners," said Ms. Green. "In today's economy, our consumers are placing great demands on their grocery store, and we are here to serve their needs and save them money every time they shop our stores. We remain strongly committed to serving our customers and ensuring we deliver a rewarding and meaningful shopping experience."

Ms. Green's position as one of the top leaders in the industry is evidenced by her being named a 2007 Top Woman in Grocery by Progressive Grocer, one of Supermarket News' Power 50 in 2009, and in January 2010 she was named one of Mass Market Retailer's Most Influential Women in Mass Market Retailing. Ms. Green recently served as chair of the Steering Committee of the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI), working to create alignment among various constituents participating in the program and ensuring guidelines and milestones were set for the initiative to be implemented by the food industry. She continues to be involved with PTI's progress and was awarded The Packer's 2008 Produce Marketer of the Year award because of her work with PTI.

Ms. Green also serves on the national Board of Directors for the Network of Executive Women (NEW) and is a member of the national Board of Governors for Children's Miracle Network.

She holds a bachelor's degree in management and marketing from the University of Maine and has completed coursework in strategic retail management at the College of William and Mary.

Mona Golub is not only the official spokesperson for Price Chopper for the public, media and store customers but has a unique position of combining her love for the arts, music and theater and working those ideas into helping to drive store traffic for Price Chopper. Ms. Golub is the second annual choice for The Griffin Report of Food Marketing Women Executive of the Year. She follows the first selection of Judy Spires, who is the president of Acme Markets.

Ms. Golub’s official title is vice president of public relations and consumer services for Price Chopper. She handles public and media information and customer relations for the company while overseeing promotions and several events. She also helps direct the Golub Foundation, which supports community activities through charitable giving. She is part of a fourth generation of a 75-year-old American family-managed and associate-owned business.

The Price Chopper chain, owned by the Golub family, operates more than 100 Price Chopper grocery stores in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The company prides itself on longstanding traditions of innovative food merchandising, leadership in community service and cooperative associate relations. The nearly 25,000 total associates in the company collectively own 51 percent of the company’s privately held stock.

Ms. Golub has a BA from Bowdoin College and has won many awards including Volunteer Center of the Capital Region Outstanding Citizen of the Year; Cultural Arts Preservation Award from the Latin American Community Council; Community Service Special Recognition Award from the Schenectady Chamber of Commerce; Leadership Schenectady Distinguished Alumnus Award; Business Review Forty Under Forty Award; Women’s Employment and Resource Center Harriet Rifkin Leadership Award; Mohawk Pathway Girl Scout’s Juliet Lowe Woman of Distinction Award; the New York State Harriet Tubman Spirit Award; the Temple Israel Circle of Humanity Award; the American Cancer Society Bean of Hope Award; and the Troy Music Hall Leadership of the Arts Award.

She has many civic affiliations including membership on many music, arts, theater organizations and helping out the Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Chamber of Commerce, Girls Scouts and Special Olympic organizations.
Growing up in the Golub family, Ms. Golub had a choice of careers including education, science and music but chose the supermarket field and truly loves her profession every day. She was not forced to choose the grocery business by her parents, Neil and Jane. “All my parents told me was to work hard and do something I love to do,” she said.

“I truly love the supermarket business because it is so vital to people. People depend on us for nourishment, careers and support for the community. No two days are the same. It’s a fast-paced day, but I face each day with enthusiasm.”

Part of her past had been serving as a regional legislator. The lesson she took away from her service was developing patience to deal with others. “Politics does not tend to move quickly,” she said.

Her latest project among many is helping Price Chopper implement NuVal, a comprehensive scientific food-scoring system on virtually every product in every one of Price Chopper’s stores. The goal is to help consumers look for a better way to make more informed food choices and improve the nutritional value of their diets. NuVal scores tell customers the overall nutritional value of food in a single number from one to 100. The higher the NuVal scores, the higher the nutrition on the product.

Ms. Golub has been a big backer of “Sunday Night Dinners With The Family,” dating back to 2006 and even before with her family upbringing. With the downturn of the economy, in-home entertainment and family dinners are more prevalent. The new twist, said Ms. Golub, is “how to feed your family for less” but yet put good food on the table.

Part of her job focuses on community events and linking the supermarket to the region’s events. Price Chopper has developed the “Ski Any Three” Program, which allows shoppers the choice to have special discounts on skiing and skiing lessons at various lodges in the region.

Ms. Golub helped develop “Tickets To Go,” which allows shoppers to purchase tickets for various community events right at the register. This includes tickets to music, art, theater, ballet and sports events.

One of the newest programs developed by Ms. Golub is the company’s Community Ambassador Program. An individual employed by Price Chopper and not a store or department manager is the store’s r liaison to the community. Currently there are 25 store ambassadors with more on the way. Part of the job is to deliver checks to charity, accept awards for the company, and help explain company programs such as NuVal. “We are looking for enthusiastic people with great communication skills to represent us well and feel the pulse of the community,” said Ms. Golub.

Both her parents encouraged Ms. Golub to do “what I love to do.” Ms. Golub mentioned her father, Neil, who encourages her to explore her own ideas and to “make my points with reason and compassions”; and her mother, Jane, a third-grade teacher for 25 years who instilled a sense of being a strong, independent woman.

Ms. Golub also mentioned Ralph Crowley, chief executive officer of Polar Beverages and a former Bowdoin graduate. While at Bowdoin, Ms. Golub conducted an on-campus soda distribution business. She learned from Mr. Crowley marketing, promotions and motivating people how to sell a product they had not seen before.

She also mentioned Schenectady Mayor Karen Johnson for helping her to produce concerts for the Central Park Stage; her high school Volleyball Coach Lyn Cleveland of Niskayuna High School, who “taught me that being short should not hold me back”; and college professor Gabor Brogyanyi, who taught her about foreign literature and different world perspectives and views.

Ms. Golub describes her management style as “hands on and interactive” as she strives to engage ideas and idea sharing and to help others find solutions to problems from within themselves. “Sometimes I shoot from the hip and sometimes I fly by the seat of my pants,” she says.

“Our business is very volatile. Things happen very quickly, and you have to learn how to react. For example a recall comes across and you have to react to it very quickly.”

Ms. Golub spends time with her 12-year-old son, sometimes works on producing free concerts in the park, and she likes cooking and entertaining, traveling the world, and working out.

When Supervalu acquired Albertsons in 2006, there were a number of experts in the food trade who said that Shaw’s and Acme Markets were the jewels of the chains coming under the wing of Supervalu.

Judy Spires, president of Acme Markets, agrees with that statement as she exudes pride in her company, her staff, store customers, and vendors. A confident, happy person, she looks forward to coming to her office every day, noting it is more of a hobby than just a job. “I really have never worked a day in my life. I love my job. It’s my passion.” She describes her management style as “very, very people-oriented, energetic, and inspiring.”

She began her career at Acme as a teenage cashier in 1970 noting that her father drove a bread truck. “I bleed Acme blood,” she said.

During her food career, she has worked at various roles within the company such as vice president of sales and advertising, vice president of human relations and administration, operations and marketing. She was the first woman to be accepted in the Acme management training program in 1975 and knew on the first day that she would one day be Acme president. She has also served as president of Albertsons’ operations, spending two years in the Rocky Mountain division and another two years in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. When she was appointed as president in 2006, on Valentine’s Day no less, Ms. Spires said it was a life-long dream of hers to keep the family connection at Acme.

“From my early days of listening to my father, an Acme truck driver, talk about the company to my first day as president here, I have always been impressed by the passion displayed by Acme associates.”

One of the keys to her success is her organization and communication skills. She believes very strongly in organization and discipline. The basic management philosophy she tells her staff is three driving principles: “We want to be the best place to work, the best place to shop, and the best place to invest.”

But with that comes the statement that she must let her staff know that the company can’t be run without them. She is quick to point out each recognition and success for her employers. In weekly internal newsletters, she publishes Judy’s Corner, a celebration of staff members and their accomplishments.

She has a weekly meeting with department heads and a monthly Town Meeting where associates from each store are invited to openly ask questions.

Ms. Spires said this Town Hall and weekly meetings have helped her tremendously, communicating with the entire staff while getting valuable input. She has an open door policy and every associate has her business phone number with a promise that every phone call will be returned within 24 hours.

Ms. Spires has encouraged vendors to meet with her and let her know about their concerns. In a previous interview she said, “Tell me like it is. Don’t beat around the bush. This world is moving too fast not to handle issues directly. Get ahead of the curve. Come to me with things that can help us get ahead in this very competitive arena. Tell me how we can make Acme better and benefit your business as well.”

She is not afraid of change, noting that "We have always looked at change as an opportunity for growth and renewal of our focus on our customers.” She is not afraid of the economy either, saying that eating at home will spur more grocery sales and opportunities for customers to rediscover Acme through fresh, quality products, and healthy solutions.

And she is not afraid of competition, noting that her marketplace can be summed up in four W’s: Wegmans, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart and Wawa. In what she calls a “Share of Stomach,” she estimated that within the Philadelphia market there are 25 opportunities a day to purchase something.

She strongly believes that the company’s 117-year history, the great ideas of 16,000 store associates, and the neighborhood touch of its stores will set Acme apart from its competitors.

Ms. Spires is very excited about the company’s premium fresh store concept, which debuted a few years ago and ahead of the curve. It includes a cheese shop, a grain-olive bar, an expanded organics, and new ready-to-go foods. This program has shaped the remodeling of Acme’s stores, which are averaging 20 to 25 remodels per year among the 130-store chain.

She has been impressed with Acme’s new owners, Supervalu and its leader Jeff Noddle. “ I think he is a fabulous leader. He is approachable and smart and wants people to talk to him.”

She has helped to promote a women’s group at Acme and the Network of Executive Women in the Philadelphia area.

Her top mentors have been her father, Bill Rogers who told her that she could be anyone she wanted to be; Jack Ottinger, her first store manager, her husband Bob Spires; her merchandising director, Toney Devinney; Theresa Buck, president of American Stores; and Mike Jackson and Jeff Noddle of Supervalu.