Dive Brief:

• Giant Eagle announced Tuesday it has appointed Bill Artman as CEO. 
• Artman, who became the grocery chain’s interim CEO in March after the sudden departure of Laura Shapira Karet, has worked at Giant Eagle for nearly 40 years, including as president of supermarkets and senior vice president of retail operations.
• The announcement also noted five promotions of top executives as part of Artman’s assembled leadership team. This included naming a new chief financial officer, a new president of supermarkets and pharmacy, and a new president of its GetGo convenience store division.

Dive Insight:

In naming Artman to the top role, Giant Eagle highlighted how he has “made a tremendous impact” as interim CEO and noted how his experience at the chain has positioned him to fill the role permanently.

“Over the past five months Bill has established a new business strategy and assembled a strong executive leadership team comprised of an accomplished group of professionals with decades of relevant experience who have both a keen understanding of the company’s unique standing as a multi-format retailer and a strong vision for its future,” Bart Friedman, chair of Giant Eagle’s board of directors, said in a statement. 

Artman worked as a retail clerk in a Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, Giant Eagle in 1985. Since then, he has worked his way up from store manager to hold several senior vice president positions, including in the retail operations and perishable merchandising divisions, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

In January 2021, Artman became an executive vice president. 

During Artman’s time serving as interim CEO, Giant Eagle resumed sending printed flyers in Pittsburgh and Cleveland; relaunched its Price Lock promotion on more than 1,000 items; added new personalized savings to its myPerks loyalty program; and started piloting a new perks and discount program for its workers. The company also launched an in-house retail media network with Leap. 

Artman is now taking the helm of the nearly century-old grocery company, which has more than 470 stores throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. In addition to the name-brand banner, the company also runs the Market District, Giant Eagle Pharmacy, GetGo and WetGo formats. 

Giant Eagle also announced Tuesday that the company has named several executives to new positions. The recent promotions include: 

• Terri Micklin to president of GetGo
• Jim Tsipakis, RPh. to president of supermarkets and pharmacy
• Dave Burnworth to CFO
• Graham Watkins to chief information and supply chain officer
• Justin Weinstein to chief strategy and marketing officer.

Along with the five promotions, General Counsel Greg Baker and Chief People Officer Janis Leigh round out Artman’s leadership team, the announcement noted. 

Giant Eagle appointed Artman as interim CEO in March when the family-owned grocery chain abruptly dismissed Karet. The company gave few details about why it was letting Karet go, saying only that it was cutting ties with the executive “pursuant to her contract.”

Karet, a fourth-generation member of one of the five families that established Giant Eagle in 1931, had served as CEO since replacing her father in 2012. She built a track record as a technology-focused leader who pushed forward with innovations, such as installing cashierless checkout technology in several of the chain’s convenience stores and developing a tech hub to support its digital ambitions.