Kansas City, KS – Associated Wholesale Grocers recently announced that effective December 7, 2015, Steve Arnold, Executive Vice President of Merchandising will transfer to the Oklahoma City Division to the position of Senior Vice President, Division Manager reporting to Jeff Pedersen, Executive Vice President Division Operations.
Steve joined AWG in 1995 as a Price Chopper Sales Manager. In 1997 he was promoted to Director of Grocery Merchandising, and later that same year became the Vice President of Merchandising in the Oklahoma City Division. In 2001, Steve earned the position of Sr. VP and Division Manager for the Oklahoma Division where he spent the next 6 years until his promotion to the Sr. VP Grocery Products in 2007. Steve was promoted to EVP Marketing in 2014. Throughout his career at AWG, Steve has played a key role in the successful growth in private label sales which exceeded $1Billion in sales under his leadership.
Concurrent with Steve’s move, Dan Funk, Senior Vice President Grocery will be promoted to Executive Vice President Merchandising and Marketing, reporting to David Smith, President and CEO – elect.
Dan joined AWG from Supervalu in October, 2012 as President of Valu Merchandisers Company (VMC) where he successfully grew VMC sales. His leadership opened new doors in the area of general merchandise, seasonal, and specialty foods. Dan assumed the leadership of grocery in 2014 where he has continued to build center store sales and marketing programs to support our members within their markets.
Replacing Dan in the role of Senior Vice President Grocery will be Danny Lane, Senior Vice President, Division Manager Oklahoma City Division. Danny has led the Oklahoma City Division since 2013. Prior to his most recent role, Danny was the Vice President, Merchandising & Marketing for the division. Danny began his grocery career in 1982 and has held senior level positions in the retail and wholesale grocery industry during this time.
About Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG)-
Established in 1926, AWG is an 89-year old retailer-owned grocery cooperative, headquartered in Kansas City, KS with annual sales of nearly $9 billion. AWG’s existing full-line distribution centers are located in Kansas City, KS; Springfield, MO; Oklahoma City, OK; Southhaven, MS; Goodlettsville, TN; Fort Worth, TX; and Pearl River, LA. The VMC facilities are located in Ft. Scott, KS, and Memphis, TN. AWG currently has over 600 member-owners and services over 3,400 retail outlets in 31 states. For more information, visit www.awginc.com or follow @AWGCorporate on Twitter.
Source: Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG)
