Coborn’s has hired Tom Williams as director of produce and floral merchandising, reporting to VP of Fresh Merchandising Emily Coborn.
As director of produce and floral, Williams will develop and lead the implementation of produce and floral merchandising strategies for the company’s various retail divisions, including Coborn’s, Cash Wise, Marketplace Foods and CobornsDelivers. He will be responsible for achieving desired sales and gross profit results and maximizing produce and floral distribution. He also will be accountable for aggressively leading innovation in the produce and floral departments to create a shopping experience that reflects each retail division’s unique brand promises, while consistently reflecting the company’s overall vision of inspiring happiness, healthy living and simplicity for customers, according to St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Coborn’s. Additionally, Williams will be responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships with vendors and suppliers. In this role, he will provide direct supervision to the produce and floral retail supervisors and indirect supervision to department managers.
Williams most recently served as manager of corporate retail produce and floral at SpartanNash Co. Prior to that role, he spent 35 years in leadership positions with Supervalu Northern Region, Cub Foods Corporate, H. Brooks and Co., Upper Lakes Foods and Brookshire Grocery Co.
He holds a bachelor of arts degree in management from the College of St. Scholastica and currently serves on the retail/foodservice board of directors for United Fresh and is an appointee for the USDA Fruit and Vegetable Advisory Committee.
Coborn’s operates 54 supermarkets across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin under the Coborn’s, Cash Wise Foods, Marketplace Foods and Save-A-Lot banners.
