Albertsons Companies Names Geoff White as EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer
BOISE, ID - Albertsons recently announced the promotion of its Own Brands President Geoff White to his new role of Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer.
White began his retail career with Albertsons as a general clerk at Safeway in Burnaby, BC, in 1981. Throughout his time there, he eventually became Director of Canadian Produce Operations for 210 stores. He held leadership roles in produce, dairy, frozen, deli/foodservice, produce, floral, and branded concepts at the Safeway corporate office from 2004 to 2015. In 2015, he was named Senior Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising for the Northern California Division. Shortly thereafter, in 2017, he was appointed President of Albertsons’ Own Brands team.
“Geoff is a customer-centric leader who brings a unique combination of creativity and analytics to achieve growth,” said Vivek Sankaran, President and Chief Executive Officer. “I look forward to working with him to transform our merchandising capabilities.”
According to a press release, under White’s leadership, the Own Brands penetration grew from 23.0 percent in fiscal year 2017 to 25.3 percent in the company's most recently reported quarter. O Organics and Open Nature represent 23.6 percent of the total natural and organic sales at Albertsons, a 152 basis point growth from Q1 of FY2018. In 2018, the Own Brands team also launched Signature Reserve, an ultra-premium label that features globally sourced ingredients.
Congratulations to Geoff on this new position and step in his career!
