Balducci's Drops Planned D.C. Expansion as co-CEO Resigns

Balducci's co-CEO has resigned in the midst of the gourmet grocery store’s decision not to move forward with a planned store in Penn Quarter, reports an article in the Washington Business Journal.

Peter Krieger, who was one of two interim co-CEOs at the Bethesda company since founder Mark Ordan left to join The Mills Corp. in February, is leaving to focus on his family, according to company spokeswoman Melissa Daly.

“Peter left for personal reasons,” Daly said. “He was commuting from Connecticut to Maryland.” Krieger could not be reached for comment.

That means Barbara Parasco, who joined Balducci’s in the spring from Macy’s where she spent 20 years, is now the sole CEO. Parasco, who lives in New York, commutes to the company’s headquarters in Bethesda.

Balducci’s also named Doug Sorenson vice president of operations and loss prevention. He was most recently at Eden Prairie, Minn.-based SuperValu as senior vice president of operations and human resources.

The Penn Quarter neighborhood has been lobbying for a grocery store at The Jefferson at Penn Quarter on Seventh Street NW between D and E streets, and Balducci’s has already spent a few million dollars to build out the 21,000-square-foot space.

The company pulled back in April, saying it needed to focus on existing stores.

The neighborhood lobbied Balducci’s to reconsider, and the company explored its financial options with the city government in July and August with a market study but ultimately decided to sell the lease it signed in June 2005.

The neighborhood still wants a grocery store, said Jo-Ann Neuhaus, executive director of the Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association.

“Because the city already has a financial interest in having a grocery store at this location,” Neuhaus explained, “I am confident this city administration will make every effort to help the developer, Balducci’s, who has a lease, and their brokers find another grocery store for this location.”