Content about Ahold

CARLISLE, Pa. — Ahold USA has named Paul Scorza as its chief information officer, the supermarket operator said Friday.

Ahold USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Netherlands-based Royal Ahold, said Scorza would assume the new position on Monday, based in Quincy, Mass., overseeing all Ahold USA information management functions, with a focus on systems and business processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, controls and operations, reporting to EVP finance and CFO Paula Price.

AMSTERDAM — Rene Dahan will step down as Royal Ahold's board chairman in October, the Dutch supermarket operator said Wednesday.

Netherlands-based Ahold — which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle chains and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States through its Ahold USA subsidiary — said that Dahan would step down after serving on the company's board since 2004. The company plans to propose at its shareholder meeting the appointment of Jan Hommen as Dahan's successor.

CARLISLE, Pa. — Ahold has appointed the former head of one of its European supermarket chains to an executive position in its U.S. division.

Ahold USA said it appointed Jan van Dam as EVP supply chain and e-commerce, in which he will focus on supply chain for the company's four U.S. divisions, Stop & Shop in the New York area and New England, Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle. He will also be responsible for the company's e-commerce business with Andrew Parkinson, president and general manager of online grocery company Peapod, reporting to him.

NEW YORK — Ahold USA has named Mark McGowan as EVP merchandising. He will lead a merchandising team that supports Ahold USA and its four divisions: Stop & Shop New England, Stop & Shop New York Metro, Giant Landover and Giant Carlisle.

McGowan had previously served as EVP supply chain for Ahold USA and previously led the Boston division of Stop & Shop.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — Dutch retailer Ahold reported that sales at its U.S. operations rose 4.3% to $6.1 billion during the fourth quarter, thanks to efforts to keep stores open during Hurricane Sandy.

Identical-store sales for U.S. stores rose 2.4%, and comparable-store sales were up 2.8% during the fourth quarter.

Net sales at U.S. stores for the year increased 3.1% to $25.8 billion. Idents rose 1.4% for the year, while comps were up 1.9%, 

Nineteen of the nation’s leading retail and CPG companies received perfect scores on the 2013 Corporate Equality Index compiled by the Human Rights Campaign.

The Human Rights Campaign released its 2013 Corporate Equality Index, which gives companies ratings of up to 100% based on their policies regarding LGBT employees and also released a buyer's guide for LGBT consumers. According to the equality advocacy group, a total of 1,848 companies were invited to submit applications, of those 530 actually did so and of those 252 received scores of 100%.

CHICAGO — An online grocery delivery service is launching "virtual grocery stores" at commuter rail stations across the country.

Peapod.com, owned by the U.S. subsidiary of Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold, announced it would launch more than 100 of the virtual grocery stores at commuter rail stations in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, New Jersey and Connecticut. Commuters in the markets Peapod serves spend an hour in transit to and from work each day, according to Census data.

CARLISLE, Pa. — Royal Ahold's American division has split its EVP marketing and merchandising position in two, the company said.

Ahold USA announced the appointment of Erik Keptner to the newly created position of EVP marketing. The search for an EVP merchandising is ongoing, the company said. Ahold USA operates the Giant-Carlisle, Giant-Landover and Stop & Shop chains and the online grocery service Peapod.

CARLISLE, Pa. — Giant Food has commenced its conversion of 15 former Genuardi's stores.

The announcement follows Giant Food, an Ahold subsidiary, getting the green light from the Federal Trade Commission for its plan to acquire 15 Genuardi's stores, located in the greater Philadelphia area, from Safeway.

During the conversion process, five stores at a time will temporarily close for about a week. The three-phase staggered approach is expected to be completed on July 22.

AMSTERDAM — Ahold experienced several bright spots during its fourth quarter and full year, the Dutch-based supermarket company said.

Fourth-quarter net sales totaled $9.4 billion, a 4.5% increase above the year-ago period, while net sales for the year increased by 2.5% to $39.1 billion.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Thursday announced the sale of 16 of its Genuardi's stores in the greater Philadelphia area to Giant Food Stores, a division of Ahold USA. Safeway will continue to operate these stores until the transaction closes, and the company is working through an orderly transition for all of these stores.

In addition, Safeway plans to close three Genuardi's stores and sell the remaining eight Genuardi's stores, which it will continue to operate while it is working with potential buyers.

Former Walmart chief information officer and current HP executive Linda Dillman was among a group of 10 executives honored earlier this week as the inaugural class diversity difference-makers was inducted into the Network of Executive Women CPG Retail Diversity Hall of Fame. The inductees received the William J. Grize Award named after the late president and CEO of Ahold USA whose early support of NEW is credited with jumpstarting the organization, which now includes nearly 5,000 members and 400 companies. Grize died in January 2010 at the age of 63 after a short illness.