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Albertsons president, c.o.o. steps down

Peter L. Lynch has resigned his positions as president, c.o.o., and director of Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, Inc. after three years on the job, to pursue other interests. The company said it has no plans to replace Lynch, who leaves Albertsons after a 36-year career in the supermarket industry. Larry Johnston, chairman and c.e.o. of the company, will assume the additional responsibilities of president. All functional areas of the company previously reporting to Lynch will now report to Johnston.

Albertsons has tapped a former Dell Computer Corp. executive to serve as group v.p., procurement. J. Sean McKinless was formerly senior director of supply chain management at Dell, where he managed the company's supply chain process redesign and managed the total procurement system, including supplier selection, supplier quantity, and continuity of supply. At Albertsons, McKinless will work toward creating a world-class sourcing operation while developing new systems and processes to generate savings for the company.

Winn-Dixie names v.p.s

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. has named several v.p.s to lead the company's various operations. Alfred J. Ottolino will serve as v.p. of pharmacy. He comes to Winn-Dixie from Wakefern Food Corp., where he was pharmacy division v.p. Before that, he spent seven years at Dominick's Finer Foods, where he was most recently director of pharmacy. Stan Timbrook, who has more than 25 years of experience with Winn-Dixie, was named v.p. of grocery, dairy, and frozen foods merchandising. He replaces Philip Payment, another Winn-Dixie veteran, who will now serve as v.p. of central procurement support.

Former Homeland c.e.o. to oversee Wild Oats operations

Boulder, Colo.-based natural and organics retailer Wild Oats Markets, Inc. has appointed industry veteran David B. Clark as s.v.p. store operations for its Wild Oats Natural Grocer format stores, which currently include 72 stores and are expected to grow by 50 percent over the next three years. This newly created position will be responsible for overseeing all store operations of Wild Oats Natural Marketplace and Nature's stores.

Clark brings more than 25 years of food retail industry experience to Wild Oats. He has served in operational, merchandising, and marketing capacities with American Stores/Jewel Companies, Supervalu, Bruno's, and Homeland Stores, where he was most recently president and c.e.o.

Kings creates new director position

Parsippany, N.J.-based Kings Super Markets has promoted Ron Kamin to the newly created position of director of grocery, dairy, and frozen foods. This is the first time these departments have been under one director in the chain's 65-year history. Kamin, a 28-year veteran of Kings, most recently served as sales manager of the dairy and frozen food departments.

Associated Food Stores taps former Albertsons exec

Salt Lake City, Utah-based Associated Food Stores, an independent retailer-owned warehouse serving more than 500 grocers, has hired Richard "Dick" King as head of the company's corporately owned grocery stores. King spent 36 years at Albertsons, where he served as president and c.o.o. At Associated Food Stores, he will head 23 corporately owned stores that include Dan's, Dick's, Lin's, and Macey's.