Dive Brief:
- Stater Bros. Markets announced Wednesday the promotion of Greg McNiff, its current chief operating officer and president, to CEO and president, effective Sept. 29.
- Pete Van Helden, the grocer’s current CEO and chairman, will become executive chairman of the board and remain CEO of Stater Bros. Charities, the grocer’s nonprofit arm that supports communities served by its stores.
- Stater Bros. said in a Wednesday LinkedIn post that McNiff has “focused on strengthening our operations, encouraging collaboration, and always keeping our customers and communities at the heart of what we do.”
Dive Insight:
McNiff’s appointment to the CEO role comes three years after his promotion to COO. He has been the grocer’s president since 2019.
McNiff brings over four decades of grocery experience to the top role at Stater Bros. Before starting at Stater Bros., he held top roles at Albertsons, including vice president of operations, VP of integration, VP of marketing and VP of fresh merchandising. In 2016, he became the president of Albertsons’ Portland Division. He has been Stater Bros.’ president since joining the company in 2019.
“I’ve worked with [McNiff] for many years, and due to his industry knowledge and fit in Stater Bros.’s culture, I can’t think of a better leader for the company’s day-to-day operations into the future,” Van Helden said in a statement.
Van Helden has served as Stater Bros.’ CEO since 2016 and became the grocer’s chairman three years ago. Prior to joining Stater Bros., Van Helden was executive vice president of retail operations for Supervalu. He started his career in 1977 as a courtesy clerk at a Rosauers in Libby, Montana.
Stater Bros. operates more than 150 supermarkets in Southern California.
