Several grocers made executive appointments in September, including H-E-B and Stater Bros. Markets, both of which named new CEOs.
Albertsons named a new board chairman last month, while Market Basket’s CFO became interim chief executive after the company’s president and CEO was dismissed.
Here’s a look at top-level executive changes announced in September.
Albertsons names new chairman
The supermarket chain announced that Kim Fennebresque, who has served as an independent member of its board of directors for a decade, has become its new board chair. Fennebresque replaces Jim Donald, who has retired from the company. Albertsons also named David Zinsner, executive vice president and CFO of Intel Corporation, as an independent director last month.
H-E-B taps COO as its next president
Roxanne Orsak, who has worked for the Texas supermarket chain for almost four decades and currently serves as chief operating officer, will become the retailer’s president in January.
Orsak will take over from Craig Boyan, who will serve as strategic advisor to H-E-B and join its board oversight and advisory committee ahead of his planned retirement at the end of 2026. Orsak, who has been an H-E-B employee since the late 1980s and has served in leadership roles in nearly every area of the company, will be H-E-B’s first woman president.
Market Basket names interim CEO
The New England grocer’s board of directors appointed CFO Donald T. Mulligan to serve as the company’s interim CEO days after removing Arthur T. Demoulas from his post as president and CEO. Mulligan, who has been with the supermarket chain for more than 40 years, joined the company after working for an accounting firm that worked with Market Basket.
Market Basket’s board dismissed Demoulas following a monthslong dispute over how he managed the company. The board had placed Demoulas on leave in May amid accusations that he was planning a work stoppage and also claimed that he had declined to share an annual budget or information about capital spending. Demoulas, who was fired after a mediator was unable to broker a resolution to the dispute, has contested his dismissal.
Stater Bros. appoints new CEO and president
Greg McNiff became CEO and president of the Southern California supermarket chain on Sept. 29 after serving as the company’s chief operating officer and president. McNiff has been president of Stater Bros. since 2019 and became COO three years ago.
Stater Bros. Markets also promoted Berth Luna to executive vice president of store operations after serving as senior vice president of retail operations. In addition, the grocer elevated Rebecca Calvin, its chief marketing officer, from the rank of senior vice president to executive vice president.
Grocery Outlet welcomes two new people to its C-suite
The discount grocery chain brought on Scott Fremont as its new chief supply chain officer and Frank Kerr as chief store operations officer. Fremont previously worked for Target, where he was most recently vice president of global transportation, trade and logistics, while Kerr brings experience from his time working for Lidl US.
Fremont and Kerr are among several executives who have joined Grocery Outlet in 2025 as the grocer strives to improve its financial results. Grocery Outlet named a new president and CEO in January and saw a new CFO,a chief information officer and a chief merchandising officer start this year.
Heritage Grocers Group names interim VP of grocery
The Hispanic food retailer promoted Justin Besyk to the position of interim vice president of grocery. Besyk joined Heritage-owned Tony’s Fresh Market in 2010 as a bagger and later moved up to director of liquor, dairy, frozen and deli meat for the grocery chain.
Earlier in 2025, Heritage named a new CFO, a chief transformation officer and group vice presidents of merchandising and marketing.
