Veteran Grocer-Stater Bros. CEO Jack Brown Receives Congressional Medal of Honor Society's 'Patriot Award'

Stater Bros. chairman and CEO Jack Brown (middle) is presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society "Patriot Award" on Saturday, February 26, 2011, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The award was presented by Vietnam Medal of Honor Recipient James A. Taylor (right). Pictured on the left is the co-host of the event, Bruce Brereton

Southern California Market Region - and Beyond

"Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure."

- President Abraham Lincoln

"A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers."

- President John F. Kennedy

On Saturday (February 26) veteran California grocer Jack Brown, chairman and CEO of San Bernardino, California-based Stater Bros. Supermarkets, was honored for a lifetime of service to his country by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, which awarded the U.S. Navy Veteran its Patriot Award, the highest honor and award the organization can bestow upon an individual.

Brown, who went to work in the food and grocery retailing industry in 1962 following his Navy service aboard the U.S.S. Interceptor and the U.S.S. General J.C. Breckinridge in the Pacific, and who's lead Stater Bros for over three decades, received the prestigious award at a gala black-tie reception and dinner -The Celebration of Freedom Gala - at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The event was sponsored by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.

The Stater Bros. chief was among well-known company at the gala. Other Americans being honored on Saturday were former U.S. Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of State George Shultz, who received the society's Distinguished Citizen Award.

Additionally, the foundation each year presents The Bob Hope Award for Excellence, in honor of the late entertainer who spent decades bringing good cheer to soldiers, airmen (and women) and marines serving overseas. The recipients of this year's Bob Hope Award are singer/actresses Connie Stevens and Ann-Margret, who traveled with the comedian to military bases and war zones throughout the world, including making a number of trips to Vietnam during the war, to entertain soldiers far from home.

In March 2010, the Stater Bros. CEO received his first award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for his years of contributions to the society and" for his dedication to promoting and perpetuating the principles upon which our nation was founded: 'Courage, Sacrifice and Selfless Service,'" according to the citation. The award was presented to Brown in person by five Medal of Honor Recipients.

According to our research, Jack Brown is the first CEO of a U.S. food and grocery retailing chain to be honored with such an award by the Congressional Medal of Freedom Society. In fact, he's the first grocer at all, regardless of position or title, we've been able to find to be so honored.

Former sailor Jack Brown has made active-duty members of the U.S. Military and service veterans a focus of his efforts during his many years as CEO of Stater Bros.

For example, he and Stater Bros., which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, have guaranteed the jobs of over 200 company employees who over the last decade have been called into active-duty to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Stater Bros. pays the employees' their weekly wages minus military pay, along with continuing to offer medical, dental and vision benefits for their families while the employees are serving their country.

Stater Bros. Charities, which CEO Brown and the grocery chain created in 2008, also includes active-duty members of the military and service veterans in its charitable efforts. As an example, Stater Bros. Charities recently donated three handicapped-equipped transport vans to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Loma Linda, California. The vans are used to transport local veterans to and from their doctor's appointments.

Since 2008, the supermarket chain's charitable foundation has donated more than $4 million "to support the most critical needs in Southern California communities," according to Susan Atkinson, Stater Bros. vice president for corporate affairs.

Personally, Jack Brown has for decades been and continues to be involved in a myriad of community organizations and good deed efforts in Southern California, where Stater Bros. operates 167 supermarkets and employs more than 18,000 workers.

Mentoring and helping to create educational opportunities, particularly in higher education, for young people and helping children in-need are two areas where "Citizen Jack Brown" is devoted to making a difference.

For example, in recognition for his efforts in the higher education arena, in July 1992, California State University, San Bernardino named a then brand new five-story campus building "Jack H. Brown Hall." The building is home to the university's College of Business and Public Administration, Department of Computer Science, and math department.

Brown, who started out in college at San Jose State University on a football scholarship and then transferred to UCLA, majoring in Business Administration, has been an adjunct professor at Cal State San Bernardino since 1993. He also attended San Bernardino Valley Community College, which in 1993 presented the grocer with its Distinguished Alumni Award for that year.

In 2005, the California State University, San Berhardino campus trustees awarded the Stater Bros. chief an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters "for his excellence and extraordinary achievement in significant areas of human endeavor and to honor meritorious and outstanding service to the California State University - to campuses, individually, or to humanity at large," according to the citation.

Brown also served for a decade as a trustee of the private University of Redlands in Southern California. In 2007, the university awarded Brown an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters "for his significant contributions to cultural, educational, economic, social and humanitarian service to the University of Redlands and for his leadership and achievement in building a more humane society."

Brown is also a "fellow" at the University of California, Riverside, an honor bestowed on the grocer in 2001. It's the highest honor the university awards to those who support higher education and have a history of community involvement.

The Stater Bros. CEO is the Founding Chairman of Children's Fund of San Bernardino County, a public/private agency devoted to protecting abused and at-risk children. the organization has served over one million at-risk children in the last 25 years, according to Atkinson.

Jack Brown the grocer, who's a native of San Bernardino where Stater Bros. is headquartered, is a walking website of information about the history of U.S. food and grocery retailing, particularly in California and the west.

The six decade-plus year industry veteran got his start in the business at the ripe young age of 13, when he was hired as a box boy (no paper or plastic option then; in fact empty grocery product boxes were the carrier of choice for customer's purchases at the time) at Berk’s Market Spot in San Bernardino, following the death of his father.

From there, after active duty with the Pacific Fleet and college, it was on to progressively more responsible positions in food retailing for Jack Brown. Those positions include: a stint as vice president of sales and merchandising for Sage’s Complete Markets in San Bernardino; and tenure as corporate vice president for Marsh Supermarkets, Inc., in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Before taking the helm at Stater Bros., which had sales in 2010 of 3.6 billion, Brown was president and CEO of Pantry Food Markets in Pasadena, California and president and CEO of American Community Stores Corporation, Omaha, Nebraska.

Brown, who's spent the last three decades of his career heading Stater Bros., has also been honored by the food retailing industry. For example, in 2005, he received the "Sidney R. Rabb Award," the Supermarket Industry’s highest award, from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), "for a lifetime of exceptional service to the community, customers, and the industry." He's served on the board of FMI and as the vice chairman of the U.S. supermarket industry's leading national trade association.

The California Grocers Association (CGA) also honored Brown with its highest award in 2001, presenting the grocer with its Hall of Fame Achievement Award "for a lifetime of dedication to the grocery industry." The CGA is the major trade association for grocers in California and neighboring states.

Receiving the Patriot Award on Saturday at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, which isn't far from Brown's office on the Stater Bros. campus in San Bernardino, is in many ways the award of awards for a man who's received many (we've only mentioned a few in this piece). But Jack Brown, who still loves the grocery business at an age when most CEO's are ready to hang up their pinstriped grocery aprons and gold-plated box cutters and relax a bit, isn't going away just yet. Instead he continues to head to the office each day to lead the troops, out to the chain's stores, which Brown visits regularly, and out into the community where, particularly in Southern California's Inland Empire region where Stater Bros. is based and where most of its 167 stores are located, he's most often referred to as just plain old Jack, an old school grocer in the best sense of the phrase, a valued neighbor - and a patriot.

Supervalu's Small-Format, Hard-Discount Save-A-Lot Food Stores Chain is California Bound

Breaking Buzz & Analysis

Supervalu, Inc.'s small-format, hard-discount Save-A-Lot Food Stores chain confirmed today by its significant presence at the 2010 California Grocers Association's (CGA) Strategic Conference in Las Vegas, as well as by its sponsorship activities and comments made by representatives for the retailer at the event, what Fresh & Easy Buzz has been saying for some time - it wants a healthy piece of California's food and grocery retailing pie.

The annual conference, which kicked off yesterday with registration and a golf tournament, is being held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. It runs through tomorrow, October 19.

There are currently only a handful of Save-A-Lot stores in California. Those few stores are located in Southern California the Central Valley region.

But Save-A-Lot, which operates on a mixed franchise-license/corporate ownership model, is out to change that. (About 75% of the 1,200 Save-A-Lot stores in the U.S. are owned by independent operators. The remaining 25% of the stores are corporate owned.)

Last night Save-A-Lot Food Stores, which is exhibiting at the trade show portion of the conference which began this afternoon and runs through tomorrow, along with Kraft Foods, sponsored the annual opening reception (from 6 p.m.-8 p.m), which is a high profile event for the grocers, suppliers and others who attend the conference. It's also designed to be a high-profile event for the companies that provide the sponsorship, which is why those doing so, like Save-A-Lot, seek it out.

There was discussion at last night's reception, including from Save-A-Lot representatives, that the discount grocer is looking to open numerous stores in California, which is the reason it's not only exhibiting at the CGA conference and trade show but also why it sponsored and co-hosted the high-profile annual opening party: To draw attention to itself and its plans in California.

At its booth on the exhibition hall floor today, Save-A-Lot representatives were armed and ready with information, as well as being prepared to sit down and talk with grocers and others who might be interested in becoming Save-A-Lot licensees-franchisees in California.

The chain has certain regions and territories - a strategic blueprint - where it plans to open stores in the Golden State, including possibly a number of corporate-owned units, although its preference is for independent operators. It's looking for existing grocers, groups and individuals, as well as qualified business people not currently in the grocery retailing business, to become independent owner-operators of single stores and multiple groups of stores in California.

One of the representatives at the Save-A-Lot booth on the exhibit floor told a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent that the Supervalu, Inc.-owned chain, which operates independently, including having its own corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri and its own senior executive team, led by CEO Bill Shaner, plans to open numerous stores in California over the next five years.

This tracks with Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert's plans to double the number of Sav-A-Lot stores in the U.S., from the current about 1,200 to about 2,400, over the next five years, which is something we've previously reported on and written about in Fresh & Easy Buzz. [See - April 20, 2010: CEO: Supervalu to Open 100 New Sav-A-Lot Stores This Year; Strategy to Double Store-Count to 2,400 in 5 Years in Place.]

Supervalu, Inc. has a significant presence in Southern California through its ownership of the Albertsons supermarket chain (number three market share after Kroger's Ralphs and Safeway's Vons). It also owns the upscale Bristol Farms chain in the region.

However, with the exception of a couple Save-A-Lot stores in the southern Central Valley and one Bristol Farms supermarket in San Francisco, Supervalu has no presence in Northern California or the Central Valley region, where about 35-40% of California's nearly 40 million residents live. Save-A-Lot would be Supervalu's best food and grocery retailing vehicle overall, among the numerous formats it has, to reverse that, in our analysis. Not everywhere, but in the right markets.

Additionally, with only a couple Save-A-Lot units in Southern California, the vast region where the remaining about 60% of Californians live is wide open for the small-format, hard discount grocer.

As a matter of fact, the entire Western U.S. (and much of the Midwest) is wide open for Supervalu when it comes to opening Sav-A-Lot food and grocery stores.

Take a look at the map here, it tells the story graphically very well. Notice that all the colored dots on the map, which represent Save-A-Lot stores, are in the Mid-Atlantic, eastern and some Midwestern portions of the U.S., while there's virtually no stores west of the Rocky Mountains. And since Save-A-Lot is headquartered in St. Louis, which happens to be called "The Gateway to the West," coming west is the logical next move. It's also logical since Supervalu plans to double the number of Save-A-Lot units between now and 2015. The vast west is vastly empty of Save-A-Lot stores.

California doesn't have a small-format, limited assortment, hard-discount grocery chain on the order of Save-A-Lot or Aldi USA, which has all of its current 1,000-plus U.S. stores east of the Rocky Mountains, as a major player in the state. Aldi USA has come as far west as Texas thus far. The two are the leading chains of the format in the U.S.

The current state of the California economy, which includes having the third-highest jobless rate (12.5%) among the 50 states, should offer a warm climate for hard-discount Save-A-Lot in the state.

Additionally, there are numerous vacant retail stores available at extremely favorable lease rates in the California, from the south to the north and everywhere in between. This abundance of properties at favorable rates, which is going to be the case from a number of additional years in the state, offers what likely will be a once in a decade opportunity for a chain like Save-A-Lot, and independent franchise owners, to grab numerous locations at extremely advantageous monthly rent amounts and long-term lease rates.

The one key limiting factor for Save-A-Lot in California at present is that because of the less than stellar economy and ongoing depressed residential and commercial real estate markets, it could be difficult to get more than a few independent owner/operators to become Save-A-Lot licensees-franchisees in the Golden State because access to capital is still rather limited, although it is improving somewhat.

Despite this economic and capital situation though, fast-growing Berkeley, California-based salvage and discount grocery chain Grocery Outlet, which operates on a licensing-franchise system similar to Save-A-Lot's, has been finding independent operators left and right in California and elsewhere in the west, where it's been opening one or more new stores about every other month since last year. Most of the new stores opening have been in California. Grocery Outlet plans to double its about 130 store count over the next few years.

One solution to this potential problem would be to build and open numerous corporate-owned Save-A-Lot stores and then franchise them out to independent owners as the franchisees become available. Convenience store chain 7-Eleven has and is doing this with considerable success in California, for example.

Another possibility is to get established, privately-held California grocery chains to become franchisees. This is something grocery wholesalers have done with much success in the state with the Food For Less discount grocery store format, for example.

There are a number of privately-held chains, such as Woodland, California-based Nugget Markets, that own and operate multiple Food For Less stores, which comprise a part or all of the retailer's chain. Nugget, which was founded in 1926 and remains owned by the Stille family, operates both the Food for Less discount stores and its upscale Nugget Markets.

PAQ Inc. (see here) is an example of a chain that's comprised completely of Food 4 Less stores. There are nine units in numerous cities in Central California's valley and coastal regions. And the Food 4 Less chain in Southern California owned by Kroger Co. got its origin as a privately-owned chain comprised of franchised Food 4 Less stores.

The annual CGA conference and trade show, which has the theme of "Express Lane to Success" this year, runs through tomorrow.

The annual event, which is sponsored financially by food, grocery and related companies that sell to and do business with the state's chain and independent grocers (collectively known as the trade), and related trade show is a key networking event for grocers doing business in California, their suppliers and service providers.

The networking takes place at formal events like the Sunday golf tournament, the opening reception hosted by Save-A-Lot and Kraft Foods mentioned earlier, and other social events hosted by The Illuminators, which is an organization comprised of members of the California grocery trade.

But the networking, which representatives of Supervalu's Save-A-Lot are doing some of right now in Las Vegas, also happens, and frequently in more interesting and productive ways, at informal venues like the golf course, restaurants, hospitality suites set up by suppliers and food brokerage firms, casino bars and gaming tables, and other Vegas hot spots.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is a member of the California Grocers Association, as are all of the leading chains in California - Kroger's Ralphs, Safeway Stores, Albertsons, Stater Bros, Save Mart, Raleys and others - and most key independents.

Related Stories

April 20, 2010: CEO: Supervalu to Open 100 New Sav-A-Lot Stores This Year; Strategy to Double Store-Count to 2,400 in 5 Years in Place

June 27, 2010: The Insider: Will Tesco Acquire Supervalu, Inc. and Change its 'Fresh & Easy' Game in America?

September 13, 2010: Reading Philip Clarke's Tea Leaves: Might A Mixed Corporate/Franchise Model Be in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Future?

April 29, 2010: Heard on the Street: There's Something About Albertsons ... In Southern California

December 4, 2008: Competitor News: Supervalu Inc.'s Small-Format, No Frills, Extreme Value Sav-A-Lot Chain Beefing Up its Executive Ranks as Part of its Growth Program

March 25, 2009: Supervalu, Inc. Introduces New, Value-Plus-Convenience Meal Solutions Program; Features Refrigerated Case 'Meal Centers' in Multiple Store Departments

September 3, 2010: How the California Grocers Association and its Members Can Snatch Victory From the Jaws of the Defeat of California's Plastic Bag Ban

A Few Words on The Life and Death of Veteran Southern California Grocer Roger K. Hughes

[Editor's Note: Southern California food and grocery retailing pioneer Roger Hughes passed away on July 8. His funeral service is being held today. Fresh & Easy Buzz's 'The Insider' columnist, who knew Mr. Hughes, asked if he could devote his column this week to the life and death of grocer Roger Hughes. We agreed.]

The Insider: Heard on the Street

Funeral services for Roger K. Hughes, a veteran Southern California grocer, spokesman for the California supermarket industry, and all around good guy, are being held today in Southern California.

Mr. Hughes, 76, died Thursday, July 8 of cancer. He is survived by his wife, Katharine; four children; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Roger Hughes, who served as chairman, president and CEO of Hughes Markets for many years, was a member of one of the pioneering food and grocery retailing families in Southern California.

In 1934 Roger Hughes' father, Joseph Hughes, went to work for the now gone Thriftmart grocery chain in New Jersey. He stayed with Thriftmart for 18 years, leaving in 1952 to seek his fortune in Southern California, where starting with one store he laid the foundation for what became one of the region's largest family-owned supermarket chains - Hughes Markets.

in 1952, Joseph Hughes opened a Thriftmart franchise grocery store in the Southern California city of Studio City. Over the following two years he opened two more Thriftmart stores, one in Van Nuys and another in Hollywood.

But it was the opening of his fourth store that would mark the beginning of the "Hughes" name in Southern California food and grocery retailing. That next store, which was located in Granada Hills, flew the Hughes Markets banner for the first time, instead of Thriftmart. Joseph Hughes severed his ties to Thriftmart, renamed the other three stores Hughes Markets, and went out on his own as a true independent grocer.

Roger Hughes went to work for his father while in high school. By the time he was in his third year at Southern California's Loyola High School he was managing the liquor department in the Studio City Hughes Market's store.

Roger Hughes initially didn't want to join the family grocery business, he wanted to be a teacher. Hughes enrolled at Glendale College for a while and then joined the U.S. Navy, serving for two years.

Back home from the Navy, Roger Hughes enrolled in the University of Southern California (USC) and graduated four years later in the early 1960's.

Following graduation from USC, Roger Hughes wet to work at Hughes Markets, becoming manager of the store in Sherman Oaks in 1962. Three years later he talked his father into granting him franchise ownership of the Sherman Oaks store (like father like son), which he operated that way for many years; in fact until his father died in 1982. When Joseph Hughes died, Hughes Markets was a multi-store grocery chain with about $400 million in annual sales.

In 1982 Roger Hughes took over as president and CEO of Hughes Markets. A mere seven years later (by the end of the 1980's) the Southern California grocery chain, known for its focus on the basics, high level of customer service, and innovations like bringing back service fish and meat departments, had doubled in size - to 45 stores - and more than doubled in sales volume to nearly $900 million annually.

In 1990 Hughes Markets, which remained owned 100% by the Hughes family, hit the $1 billion in annual sales milestone, with 52 stores.

The chain, which had become the largest family-owned supermarket chain in Southern California because of acquisitions some years prior of formerly family-owned Ralphs and Vons, continued to grow in the 1990's, although in the measured and controlled way which was a hallmark of Roger Hughes' approach to building the business.

From 1992 -to- 1996 Hughes Markets opened six new stores (to total 58). And in 1993 the family-owned chain debuted a new office and warehouse complex in the Southern California city of Irwindale The new office complex/distribution center was comprised of three buildings: A 36,000 square-foot office building, a 137,000-square-foot facility for fresh produce, meat and deli, and a 443,000 square-foot distribution center for dry grocery, general merchandise, and liquor.

But in November of 1996 Roger Hughes decided to sell the nearly half-century old family supermarket business, which was doing about $1.3 billion in annual sales, to Quality Food Centers, Inc. (QFC), a then 64-store supermarket chain based in Seattle, Washington, for $360 million in cash.

The sale marked a milestone in the Southern California supermarket industry because Hughes Markets was the last remaining major, family-owned grocery chain in the region.

Under the terms of the acquisition-merger agreement, Roger Hughes gave up his title as chairman but retained his president and CEO title. The agreement also stated that his management staff and all Hughes Markets' employees would remain in place, with Hughes Markets and QFC to operate as separate business units under a holding company formed by QFC. This was a stipulation Roger Hughes insisted on in order for the deal to happen.

At the time here's (paraphrase) what Roger Hughes said about the deal: The merger allows us to keep our people in place and provided funds for future expansion. One of the family's concerns with any sale was that we didn't want to disturb the employees, and we were able to consummate this and have all our people remain in place. Once the merger is completed, we'll have more financial clout and we'll be in a better position to grow.

Roger Hughes stayed on post-merger as president and CEO of the chain. But when QFC and Ralphs were acquired just one year later in 1997 by Fred Meyer Inc. (part of Southern California-based supermarket industry veteran and investor [Yucaipa Company] Ron Burkle's roll up deal in the 1990's) he retired. Not long after, the Hughes Market banner was replaced in Southern California with the Ralphs banner.

But Roger Hughes didn't spend much time in retirement; less than two years.

In 1999 he and three former members of his executive team at the old Hughes Markets chain - Mark Oerum, David Wolff and Steve Strickler - founded HOWS Markets in Southern California. The HOWS name is an acronym of the last names of the four founders/owners: Roger Hughes, Mark Oerum, Dave Wolff, and Steve Stricker.

HOWS is an upscale supermarket format but embraces most of the fundamentals, like the focus on customer service, of the old Hughes Markets chain and culture. (see here.) There are currently four HOWS' stores operating in Southern California. There were five units but the grocer closed its store in North Hollywood earlier this year because it was underperforming.

During his about 56-years (45 at Hughes Markets and 11 involved with HOWS) in the grocery business in Southern California, Roger Hughes, who was always ready with a friendly smile, also was a spokesman for the industry in the Golden State. He was actively involved with both the California Grocers Association (CGA), including serving a term as CGA Board Chair, and the Western Association of Food Chains, which he was president of in 1995, for decades.

Among his contributions to both trade organizations included frequent, and substantial, donations to scholarship funds which help students who are sons and daughters of people who work in the California food and grocery retailing industry.

Roger Hughes is one of just a handful of California supermarket industry executives who have Legacy Scholarship's named after them by the CGA (you can learn more about the program here.)

In the mid-1980's -to- early -1990's Roger Hughes often partnered with fellow CGA board member Chuck Collings, the former president and CEO of Sacramento, California-based Raley's Supermarkets, to speak out to the media and public in California and nationally on issues important to grocers and consumers alike, as well as to lobby state legislators in Sacramento on issues of concern to grocers.

It was in this roll, a new one for Hughes but one he took to well because of his affability, where many who knew him well say he was able to differentiate himself from his father, who was much more of a private man, both as a grocer and personally. In fact, Joseph Hughes prided himself on never speaking to the press, and not letting employees do so either, a practice Roger Hughes changed a few years after he took over as CEO and Chairman, during the entire time he ran Hughes Markets.

The death of Roger Hughes in many ways marks the end of an era in the Southern California food and grocery retailing industry.

For example, the two major supermarket chains today in Southern California - Ralphs and Vons - like Hughes Markets, have their origins in being founded by entrepreneurs who built them up into substantial chains before selling them to publicly-held grocers.

Roger Hughes was part of that groundbreaking era in Southern California grocery retailing, which saw until not that long ago a dominance by family-owned grocers. The independent grocer segment is still alive and well in Southern California though, thanks in-part to the legacy Roger Hughes helped to build.

There's a certain poetry to Roger Hughes' career as a grocer in that after running a $1 billion-plus a year supermarket chain for many years, just two years after retiring, he couldn't wait to get back into the business as an independent, starting HOWES Markets, in which he put up a substantial chunk of his own money to get started. He also loved spending time in the HOWS stores, until health prevented him from doing so some years ago.

Roger Hughes' returning to the business as an entrepreneurial independent grocer recalls the time when as a young man he convinced his father to let him own and operate the Sherman Oaks Hughes Markets' store as a franchise - hence that poetry. It also helps explain why he operated the store as an owner for so many years - being an entrepreneur was in his blood and spirit - even though as the son of the chain's owner and CEO he didn't have to.

In closing, if you work in the grocery business, in Southern California or elsewhere - or even if you don't - join me in taking a moment of silence after reading this in honor of Roger Hughes: Grocer, husband, father, grandfather, entrepreneur, spokesman for the California supermarket industry, friend to many, and, last but far from least - a really good guy to all, regardless of their title, position in the industry - or station in life. RIP.

Recent Columns by 'The Insider'

~June 27, 2010: The Insider: Will Tesco Acquire Supervalu, Inc. and Change its 'Fresh & Easy' Game in America?

~June 12, 2010: Will Phil Clarke Shake Things up at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA When He Becomes Tesco CEO in 2011?

~May 20, 2010: Welcome to Discountopia USA

~April 29, 2010: Heard on the Street: There's Something About Albertsons ... In Southern California

[Editors Note: We made a correction on July 14 regarding former Raley's President Chuck Collings.]