Supermarket operator Giant Eagle has appointed Bill Artman chief executive officer after having been named interim CEO in March, with other executive changes occurring simultaneously.
Over the past five months, Artman has supervised efforts including moving quickly to return a revamped weekly circular to mailboxes in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the reintroduction of the Price Lock promotion to lock prices on more than 1,000 seasonally relevant products, free Coffee Monday at GetGo, seasonally impactful fuel discounts, new and expanded personalized savings through the company’s myPerks loyalty platform, and the rollout of a new Team Member perks and discount program that is currently in pilot. The initiatives represent the company’s pursuit and commitment to providing reliable value and unparalleled quality and service to its customers, Giant Eagle stated.
In March, Giant Eagle announced that CEO Laura Shapira Karet would exit the company. The Shapira family descends from one of Giant Eagle’s founding families, and Karet’s father David Shapira preceded her as CEO. Giant Eagle gave no reason for the Karet departure. She made a statement saying simply that she would be moving on to the next chapter in her life. As Karet left, Artman became interim CEO.
At the same time it announced that Artmen would become permanent CEO, Giant Eagle announced that Terri Micklin was promoted to executive vp, president of GetGo, the company’s food service operation. She was senior vp of development and strategy for GetGo. In addition, Giant Eagle promoted Jim Tsipakis to executive vp, president of supermarkets and pharmacy. He was executive vp and president of Giant Eagle Pharmacy. The company promoted Dave Burnworth to executive vp, chief financial officer. He was senior vp and chief accounting officer. Giant Eagle also promoted Graham Watkins, who was executive vp supply chain transformation and operations, to executive vp, chief information and supply chain officer, and Justin Weinstein, who was senior vp and chief strategy officer, to executive vp, chief strategy and marketing officer.
“Terri, Jim, Dave, Graham and Justin have consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and a deep commitment to our customers,” said Artman in announcing the promotions. “Their expanded roles within the organization will undoubtedly strengthen our ability to deliver meaningful everyday value and an exceptional omnichannel shopping experience for our customers in an environment that recognizes and rewards our team members.”
