C&S Wholesale Grocers Executive Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer Michael Papaleo retired Friday after nearly three decades working for the grocery distributor and supermarket operator.
The company has divided Papaleo’s duties among a pair of executives. Mark McGowan, executive vice president of retail and chief merchandising officer, will head merchandising operations for C&S going forward, while Senior Vice President of Procurement Andrew Connell will be responsible for procurement, demand planning and inbound planning, according to a Friday press release.
Papaleo is leaving C&S as the company waits to find out if its agreement to buy hundreds of supermarkets from Kroger and Albertsons in connection with those supermarket chains’ proposed merger will proceed. Kroger and Albertsons are awaiting a federal judge's decision on federal regulators’ bid to block the merger and are also defending the transaction in state courts in Colorado and Washington state.
C&S agreed in September 2023 to buy 413 stores and other assets from Kroger and Albertsons as part of a nearly $2 billion divestiture plan the grocers put together to blunt antitrust concerns about their proposed combination. In April, Kroger and Albertsons boosted the number of stores they intend to sell to C&S to 579, pushing the value of the arrangement to almost $3 billion.
C&S distributes groceries to about 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions, according to the company's website. The company also operates grocery stores under the Piggly Wiggly banner.
Papaleo joined C&S in 1997 and served as the company’s senior vice president of fresh procurement and merchandising until 2020, when he became chief procurement officer, according to his LinkedIn profile. He will remain with the New Hampshire-based company through the coming year as a strategic advisor, the company said.
Before joining C&S, Papaleo served as vice president of merchandising/procurement for Twin County Grocers.
“Michael has helped lead C&S through many market changes and has been a very respected leader both within the Company, as well as in the overall grocery industry,” C&S CEO Eric Winn said in a statement.
“We have been truly fortunate for his leadership and wish him the very best in his retirement.”
