Dive Brief:
- Grocery Outlet has increased its board of directors from 10 to 12 members, the discounter announced Thursday.
- The discounter named Frances Allen and Felicia Thornton, who collectively have decades of experience in the restaurant and grocery industries, as board directors, effective April 1.
- The board expansion comes at a key time for Grocery Outlet as it looks to improve its poor financial position.In fiscal 2025, the company recorded a nearly $222 million operating loss and a nearly $225 million net loss.
Dive Insight:
Grocery Outlet has added executive depth from the restaurant and grocery industries to its expanded board as the company works to improve its performance through a revised operational strategy.
Allen has over 40 years of experience in consumer-facing companies and food industry leadership and most recently served as president and CEO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants. She retired from the restaurant chain in 2024. Before that, she served as president and CEO of fast casual restaurant chain Boston Market from 2018 to early 2020 and as brand president of Jack in the Box. She also has senior leadership experience at Denny’s, Dunkin’, Sony Ericsson, PepsiCo and Frito-Lay.
Thornton has over 30 years of leadership experience in the grocery, retail and specialty retail industry and most recently served in top leadership positions at Number Holdings, Inc., the parent company of 99 Cents Only Stores, which filed for bankruptcy in 2024. She was previously co-CEO, president and chief operating officer of Demoulas Super Markets, Inc., which runs the grocery chain Market Basket. She also has grocery leadership experience at Safeway, Kroger, Ralphs and Fred Meyer.
Allen and Thornton will serve on the board as independent directors until the company’s 2026 annual stockholders meeting.
In March, Grocery Outlet reported dismal fourth-quarter earnings, which included a nearly $235 million operating loss, a more than $218 million net loss and a comparable-store sales slide of nearly 1%. During its earnings call, Grocery Outlet announced a new restructuring plan — its second within a year’s span — and said it would close 36 underperforming stores.
Jason Potter, the company’s president and CEO, called the Q4 results “unacceptable.”
Companies such as medical technology company Masimo and Campbell Soup and have expanded their boards to help settle disputes and resolve shareholder fights. Meanwhile, Ingles Markets is currently fighting an activist investment firm’s attempt to elect a board candidate connected with the family that controlled opioid medication maker Purdue Pharma.
