Dive Brief:
- Stop & Shop has named Lee Nicholson as executive vice president and chief merchant, the Ahold Delhaize-owned supermarket chain announced Wednesday.
- The grocer said Nicholson will assume his position at the start of 2025, but did not provide a specific date.
- Nicholson, currently senior vice president of procurement for Ahold Delhaize USA, will oversee functions including merchandising strategy, category management, promotional planning and pricing in his new role.
Dive Insight:
Nicholson is joining Stop & Shop just a few months after it brought on Roger Wheeler as president amid a drive by the chain to improve its financial performance and strengthen ties with shoppers in the five Northeastern states where it operates. The company has closed 32 stores this year and said in October that it had cut prices on thousands of private label and national brand items in all of its Rhode Island stores.
Wheeler alluded to Stop & Shop’s efforts to rejuvenate its operations in a statement about Nicholson’s appointment.
“Lee will carry forward the next phases of the large, multi-year price investments Stop & Shop is making, which is a key part of our commitment to strengthen our customer value proposition,” Wheeler said. “Lee is an excellent leader who has the ability to build strong teams focused on the customer, and I look forward to aligning our merchandising strategies to support our work to reposition Stop & Shop.”
Nicholson, who assumed his current position at Ahold Delhaize USA in 2021, is returning to Stop & Shop after previously working for the chain for several years. He joined the banner in 2004 as a grocery buyer and later moved on to the role of category manager. Nicholson also held positions at Winn Dixie, Supervalu and Walmart earlier in his more than 30-year career.
Stop & Shop is the latest Ahold Delhaize banner in the U.S. to name a new chief merchant this year. Giant Food appointed Tonya Herring to that role in June, while The Giant Company shifted former CFO Rebecca Lupfer to the chief merchant’s position in August.
Last week, Ahold Delhaize announced that Greg Finchum will become president of Food Lion in May 2025, when Meg Ham is slated to retire from the position.
