Last updated on January 8th, 2015 at 04:05 pm
Mr. Mike Proulx, who spent more than 40 years with Chandler, Arizona-based Bashas’, died Jan. 6 surrounded by family. He was 66.
During his time at Bashas’, Mr. Proulx supervised the day-to-day operations of more than 160 stores and 14,000 employees. He was involved in mergers and acquisitions, union negotiations and worked with state government officials on behalf of the grocery chain. Mr. Proulx spent years expanding Bashas’ vast Northern Division that is spread across hundreds of miles of Native American reservations, tiny agrarian burgs and burgeoning vacation destinations. He also traveled extensively and studied the grocery industry domestically and abroad.
Mr. Proulx retired from Bashas’ in September 2009 as president and COO. He remained involved in the industry, however, joining USC Marshall’s Food Industry Management program as a lecturer shortly after his retirement. Mr. Proulx co-taught “Strategic Planning, Leadership and Management Priorities” during the spring 2010 semester with the late Bob Hermanns.
Willie Crocker of Bimbo Bakeries spoke of Mr. Proulx’s death with “a heavy heart” and referred to him as a “friend of the industry.”
A memorial mass will be held at 11 a.m. at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Sedona, Arizona, on Saturday. A reception will follow.
