Dive Brief:
- Superior Grocers has named Richard Wardwell as president and CEO, effective Jan. 30, the California supermarket chain announced Tuesday.
- Wardwell joined Superior in 2014 and currently serves as president. He will continue to manage all of the retailer’s operations in his upgraded role.
- Wardwell is taking over the CEO’s position from Mimi Song, who will retain the role of chairman.
Dive Insight:
Wardwell is moving up to the top role at Superior Grocers after serving in several other executive positions for the retailer, which operates about 70 supermarkets in Southern California and elsewhere in the state. He has been president of the grocery chain since 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile.
As president of Superior, Wardwell led the independently owned grocer’s purchase of Numero Uno, a chain of 22 Hispanic food stores in Southern California. The July 2022 transaction significantly expanded Superior’s presence in that region, where the majority of the retailer’s stores are located.
Last month, Superior entered California’s Central Valley with the opening of a store in the city of Tulare.
Prior to assuming his current role at Superior, Wardwell held progressively higher positions at the retailer, including vice president of operations, senior vice president and chief operations officer. Before arriving at Superior, he spent three years as vice president of operations for the food source division at Raley’s.
Wardwell moved to Raley’s from Walmart, where he spent about a year as manager of a store in Ceres, California, his LinkedIn profile says. Earlier in his career, he worked as director of operations for The Save Mart Companies.
