People on the Move: Advantage Solutions, Impact 21, Marathon Petroleum & Parker's
NATIONAL REPORT — Retailers, wholesalers and suppliers in the convenience store industry are only as good as their management teams and employees. In this special roundup, Convenience Store News runs down the most recent executive changes at the top in the industry.
Advantage Solutions Inc.
Advantage Solutions Inc. named Dave Peacock chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors, effective Feb. 1. Advantage also appointed Chris Baldwin a member of Advantage's board of directors, effective the same date. Peacock will succeed Jill Griffin, who resigned and has elected to pursue other business endeavors.
Peacock joins Advantage with more than 30 years of consumer packaged goods and retail industry experience, including four years as president and chief operating officer of Schnuck Markets Inc., and two decades at Anheuser-Busch, including three years as the company's president.
Baldwin joins Advantage's board with several decades of industry experience in leadership roles. He now serves as chairman of the board of directors of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc.; as an executive committee member at the National Retail Federation; and as a managing partner of CVC (U.S.) Advisors Inc. Previously he was chairman and CEO of BJ's and CEO of Hess Retail Corp. and held executive positions at Procter & Gamble, Mondelēz International and The Hershey Co.
AlixPartners
Justin MacFarlane rejoined AlixPartners, the global consulting firm, as a partner and managing director in its global retail practice.
MacFarlane brings nearly three decades of experience in results-oriented leadership roles in consulting and as a C-suite executive at large retailers. His expertise includes transforming companies for growth and leading operational improvements to increase financial results. He is also an expert in digital transformations in the retail and consumer space.
His corporate experience includes serving as chief strategy, analytics, and innovation officer at Macy's Inc.; senior vice president of corporate strategy at Ann Inc., owner of the Ann Taylor, Loft and Lou & Grey brands, and executive vice president and chief customer officer at Ascena Retail Group Inc.
From 2006 to 2010, prior to his corporate positions, MacFarlane worked at AlixPartners, joining the firm from a well-known global retail consultancy.
FeedbackNow by Forrester
David Price joined FeedbackNow by Forrester to help grow the firm's presence in the convenience channel.
Price comes to FeedbackNow with more than 35 years of experience. He started his professional career in the convenience store industry, working for Mobil Oil Co. in point-of-sale marketing throughout the Northeast. Most recently, Price sold high-end security for ADT.
"The common denominator is helping people," Price said. "If you listen to your prospective customer and learn what challenges they face, solutions can be presented that help them work more efficiently and successfully."
Flexeserve Inc.
Flexeserve Inc. appointed Adam Dyer as its director of culinary. Dyer will apply his extensive knowledge of American food and foodservice to the expansion of Flexeserve, hot-holding partner to major retailers and hot food operators across a variety of sectors.
In his new role, Dyer will head up the soon-to-open Culinary Support Center at Flexeserve Inc.'s headquarters in Southlake, Texas.
Grocery Supply Co.
After a 44-year career at Grocery Supply Co. (GSC) President and CEO Michael J. Bain retired from the company effective Dec. 31. Bain rose through the ranks serving GSC in various operations roles in multiple locations across the GSC system before taking on the role of president and CEO.
Following Bain's retirement, GSC named Ryan McKenzie president and CEO. McKenzie grew up in the family business and has been an integral part of GSC's management team for 23 years. McKenzie most recently served as chief operating officer.
In addition, GSC promoted Robert Cody, corporate controller, to vice president of purchasing. A 29-year company veteran, Cody will now oversee all aspects of purchasing and work closely with Teresa Reynolds, director of purchasing and category management. As part of this transition, John Prickette assumed the role of GSC's senior vice president of sales and marketing and continues to lead and support sales, purchasing and customer care.
Impact 21
Impact 21, a retail consulting, analytics and services company, added to its team. Greg Tornberg joined as a principal consultant, Scot Knox joined as a principal consultant, and Paula Conti and Charles Conti joined as senior principal consultants.
Most recently, Tornberg served as vice president, fresh foods QA, design and commercialization at 7-Eleven Inc., where he managed foodservice acquisition responsibilities by leading a team of food professionals, scientists and engineers for both franchise and company operated locations. He also held the title of vice president of foodservice at Kum & Go.
Paula Conti brings with her more than 28 years of experience in the convenience store, wholesale fuel and logistics industry, she has served in numerous senior level positions including senior sales executive, senior sales engineer, vice president of customer services and training, as well as owner/chief financial officer of CK's Convenience Store/Cajun Kitchen and Bon Appétit Catering.
Charles Conti has more than 24 years' experience in the convenience store industry. He most recently served as director of hardware product management at PDI.
Knox has been in the c-store industry for the past 16 years, including prior work with national and proprietary brands. Most recently, Knox served as region director and market leader for 7-Eleven after the acquisition of Sunoco and MACS. He was also a part of many successes during his tenure as region sales director and director of restaurant operations for The Pantry Inc., including the creation, development and implementation of a new foodservice offer.
Marathon Petroleum Corp.
Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) announced that Toni Townes-Whitley has been elected to the company's board of directors, effective March 1.
Townes-Whitley is a global technology leader whose career spans more than 35 years, most recently as president of U.S. Regulated Industries at Microsoft Corp. Prior to Microsoft, she held leadership roles with CGI Federal and Unisys Corporation. Townes-Whitley currently serves as an independent director on the boards of Nasdaq and PNC Financial Services.
The election of Townes-Whitley will increase the number of directors on the MPC board to 12.
Mojix
Chris Cassidy joined Mojix as president and chief commercial officer of the inventory management and supply chain traceability enterprise SaaS platform.
Before joining Mojix, Casssidy was executive vice president and chief revenue officer at Trax Technologies. Previously, he held various supply chain leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Gartner, UPS and GSK.
Parker's
Parker's hired three new team members: Nick Hand, loyalty and brand manager; Miranda Hendricks, marketing manager; and Vanessa Lehnen, leader of talent acquisition.
In his role, Hand designs and executes marketing campaigns that drive brand engagement, increase Parker's Rewards loyalty program enrollment and create personalized customer journeys. Experienced in the food and beverage industry, Hand is the former digital marketing manager for Tijuana Flats Restaurants LLC. Earlier in his career, he served as the director of digital marketing and technologies for 727 Digital, digital content and SEO developer for AAA National and as a senior web designer and UX developer for GeoNorth LLC.
As the new marketing manager, Hendricks oversees Parker's website, print and digital media platforms and creates engaging video content. A communications specialist, Hendricks brings five years of nonprofit and business-to-consumer experience to her new position. Before joining Parker's, she served as a content marketing assistant for Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga. She also founded her own graphic design company, Mevelyn Designs LLC, and served as a graphic designer for 50/50 Women on Boards and StartCHURCH.
In her new position, Lehnen is responsible for Parker's recruiting strategies and oversees the recruiting team. She serves as a trusted liaison and advisor to the company's leadership team and implements talent acquisition, diversity and inclusion initiatives as well as culture and engagement strategies that attract best-in-class associates, increase organizational effectiveness and leverage competitive advantage to accelerate growth. Prior to joining Parker's, Lehnen served as the talent acquisition business partner for Goodwill Southeast Georgia; worked at CitiTrends recruiting department in Savannah, Ga.; and served as a diversity specialist and recruiter for ATL Search Group in Atlanta.
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