Food Lion president Cathy Green Burns, who became a familiar face on the grocery chain’s television commercials, has been replaced by Beth Newlands Campbell as president of Food Lion, in a management shake-up announced by the grocery chain’s parent company.
Roland Smith, CEO of Delhaize America, announced late Thursday that Campbell will move from her position as president of Hannaford Supermarkets, also owned by Belgium-based Delhaize, to take over the Food Lion chain.
Campbell also will run Harvey’s, a smaller grocery chain in the Delhaize family.
Food Lion, which started in Salisbury with a single store, now has nearly 1,200 stores in 10 states and is among the major grocery chains in the Carolinas.
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The change at the top of Food Lion was among a number of management shifts announced by Smith.
He did not announce a reason for removing Burns as president, but Delhaize America has seen its share of challenges. In January the company announced plans to close 113 underperforming Food Lion stores in the U.S.
In a news release, Delhaize America said the restructuring “was conducted to provide greater clarity of responsibility and accountability, and improve results across the organization.”
Burns was a familiar face to those who saw Food Lion’s television commercials. She often appeared in the ads, playing on her role as a mother who was trying to balance work and raising children.
She started her career as a clerk and bagger with Hannaford and worked her way up the ranks, eventually becoming a Hannaford vice president.
She moved to Food Lion more than a decade ago and served in a number of managerial positions until becoming president in February 2010.
Food Lion has been involved in a hotly contested battle for market share in the Carolinas, competing with such giants as Walmart, Kmart, Harris Teeter and others. Florida-based Publix also is moving into the Carolinas.
Food Lion lost market share in the Charlotte region last year, falling from 19.2 percent of the market to 17.7 percent, according to data from Chain Store Guide.
Campbell, 47, has spent her entire professional career with Hannaford Supermarkets.
She grew up near Rochester, N.Y., and graduated with a business degree from Cornell University.
She joined Hannaford nearly 25 years ago in the retail management training program.
Campbell, a married mother of two girls, was an assistant store manager, a store manager, and then a district manager. She also had managerial positions in human relations and marketing with the company.
The changes announced by Delhaize appeared to consolidate several positions.
For example, instead of presidents leading the four separate food chains, there will now be two presidents – Campbell and Brad Wise – each heading two chains.
Other changes announced by Delhaize in the shake-up:
• Mike Vail moves from president of Sweetbay Supermarkets to chief supply chain officer for Delhaize America.
• Brad Wise moves from senior vice president of human resources to president of Hannaford and Sweetbay.
• Greg Amoroso moves from senior vice president of the Business Service Center and sustainability to chief financial officer of Delhaize America.
• David Criscione moves from senior vice president of strategy, marketing and business development with Hannaford, to chief strategy and development officer for Delhaize America.
The company said three other officers – Meg Ham (president of Bottom Dollar Food), Linn Evans (senior vice president of legal and government affairs for Delhaize), and Deborah Dixson (chief information officer for Delhaize) – will retain their positions.