Jewel-Osco President Mike Withers has been promoted to EVP of retail operations for Albertsons Cos. and Geoff White has been appointed to the new position of president of Albertsons Cos. Own Brands organization.
Withers will lead the company’s East Region operations, while current EVP of Retail Operations Susan Morris will lead the West Region. Jim Perkins, EVP of Retail Operations Special Projects is focused on targeted initiatives to accelerate growth. All three executives will continue to report to Wayne Denningham, president and COO of Albertsons Cos.
“Mike is an exceptional leader who understands our business and market areas from coast to coast,” said Denningham. “Throughout his career, Mike has worked closely with many members of our current leadership team, and his management experience and operations expertise will help all of our divisions run really great stores.”
Withers began his career with Albertsons in 1976 in Boise, Idaho. Like many of the company’s executives, he started as a courtesy clerk and gradually worked his way up until he was running his own store. He served as district manager in both Washington and Florida and was eventually promoted to Big Sky Division president with responsibilities for store operations in Montana and North Dakota, a role he also held in both the Florida and Portland divisions. Since 2006, Withers has served as VP of marketing and merchandising for the Florida and Southern divisions and president of the Southern and Jewel-Osco divisions.
Withers will be based at the company’s Boise corporate campus.
In his new role, White will lead the Own Brands team, including the Culinary Kitchen and Technical Center. He will be responsible for furthering the growth, development and innovation of the company’s Own Brands products, including O Organics, Lucerne, Open Nature and the extensive line of Signature products.
“Geoff is a visionary merchant who understands the evolution of our company’s Own Brands and the significant role they play in our overall strategy,” said Shane Sampson, EVP and chief marketing and merchandising officer. “Our Own Brand items are integral to how we earn customer loyalty. We’ve developed a nimble process that responds quickly to consumer trends with popular products over the last two years, and I’m excited to see how our team and brands further their development under Geoff’s leadership.”
White started as a general clerk in Burnaby, British Columbia, in 1981 and held positions of increasing responsibility over the next 17 years, culminating in being named director of Canadian produce operations, where he was responsible for all produce sales, marketing and merchandising, spanning western Canada with 210 stores. In December 2004, White was named to a group director position at the Safeway corporate office and was eventually promoted to VP of produce. In 2010 he was named SVP and, over the next five years, led several functions, including dairy, frozen, deli/foodservice, branded concepts, produce and floral. In 2015, he was named SVP of marketing and merchandising for the Northern California Division. (Albertsons Cos. acquired Safeway in early 2015.)
White will be located at the company’s Pleasanton, California, campus.
