Acme Markets, a banner of Albertsons Cos., has made a leadership change, with Jim Perkins, EVP of retail operations and special projects for Albertsons, taking on the additional role of president for Acme. Former Acme President Dan Croce continues with the company as SVP of retail operations.
The change in leadership is related to the transition of acquired stores, according to Albertsons. Acme in late 2015 acquired 76 former A&P stores in bankruptcy auctions and is transitioning them to Acme units.
Perkins began his career at Albertsons in 1982 and developed into a key leader for the company in several areas of the country. He served as VP of operations and director of operations for Albertsons Southern division. He left Albertsons to join Giant Food but returned to Albertsons/Acme in 2012. He was named EVP of operations for the Albertsons East region in April 2015.
Croce’s grocery career began in 1985 at Superfresh/A&P. He joined Acme as district manager in 2005 and was promoted to director of operations in 2008. In 2011, Croce was named VP of operations and was promoted to VP of marketing and merchandising. He was named Acme division president in January 2015.
Christine Wilcox, Albertsons VP of communications, public affairs and education, told The Griffin Report that, from an operations perspective, “It made sense for us to make that move. Over the last several months, (Perkins’) primary focus has been helping to manage the transition of our acquired stores in that division, since equipment had to be upgraded and systems changed. As you know, changing systems is only a piece of the puzzle, and the much more important facet is helping our people manage that change as well, and Jim is an exceptional leader with extensive experience in these scenarios. Dan Croce continues to lead the Acme team in the very important role of SVP of retail operations, which is the role he held in 2013 when we acquired the division and Jim joined our company as Acme division president.”
Acme operates 179 stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Connecticut and Maryland, employing more than 20,000 associates.
