Co-founder and board member Chuck Eggert has retired from New Seasons Market, the 12-store grocery company based in Portland, Ore.
He has sold his shares back to the company, but Eggert is not completely severing his ties with the grocery company he helped create more than a dozen years ago. He will remain as a consultant for the next three years to ensure a smooth transition and provide “thought leadership.”
”Over 12 years ago Chuck helped create New Seasons Market as part of his championship of a strong regional food economy. He helped us grow from an idea to a company with more than 2,300 staff members, deep relationships with our homegrown ranchers, farmers and producers and extensive support for our local community,” said board chair and co-founder Stan Amy. “On behalf of the board and staff, I extend my heartfelt thanks for his vision and service.”
The company described Eggert, 63, as a “natural products visionary and regional food economy advocate,” who “leaves a legacy of helping create a company that champions sustainability, people and delicious local food.”
Eggert will continue his leadership role at his family-owned company, Pacific Natural Foods, a maker of natural foods and beverages based in Tualatin.
He served on the New Seasons Market board since the company’s inception and helped steward its growth as a sustainable company.
“Watching customers embrace our vision—a business focused on supporting and building the local economy—has been such a rewarding experience,” said Eggert. “With New Seasons so entrenched in the fabric of our neighborhoods, and with such a strong foundation from which to build, it’s time for me to take on new challenges. I’m ready to look for new ways to contribute to the health of our communities and sustainable agriculture and look forward to what lies ahead.”
According to The Oregonian, a 13th New Seasons Market is planned for northeast Portland, on Vancouver Street.
Lisa Sedlar will continue to lead the company as CEO.
The company’s other co-founder, Brian Rohter, retired from the company and its board in 2010, the paper said, noting that Rohter’s wife, Eileen Brady, is running for mayor of Portland.
The New Seasons board now includes Amy; Stephen Babson and Bradaigh Wagner, executives from Portland-based equity firm Endeavour Capital, which owns a piece of New Seasons; and Caryn Ellison, a former CFO for the shoe company Crocs Inc. with no ownership stake, The Oregonian noted.
Endeavour was chosen by New Seasons to set up a plan for employees to receive equity in the company.
