Arizona Food Group Names Albertsons LLC Div. Head Retailer of the Year
PHOENIX -- Local food industry association Arizona Food Marketing Alliance (AFMA) here yesterday named Albertsons LLC Southwest division president Bob Colgrove Retailer of the Year. It also inducted retired Bashas' president Wayne Manning into its Hall of Fame as part of its program.
Colgrove, a 32-year veteran of food retailing, began his career with Albertsons in 1975 as a clerk in Colorado Springs, Colo. His career with Albertsons took him through 14 states across seven different operating divisions in various management positions, including store director, district manager, division manager, and division v.p.
As s.v.p., he led the integration efforts of the Intermountain West Division from four separate Albertson's divisions, creating a new entity that spanned 13 states and employed 35,000 associates. Before assuming the presidency of the Southwest Division, Colgrove was president of Albertsons' Dallas-Fort Worth division.
Manning began his career with Bashas' in the 1960s as a computer specialist. Following an absence several years during which he studied at the University of Kansas and had a brief stint in the Air Force, Manning returned to Bashas' and before long, was head of computer operations. By 1976, he was Bashas' general manager, and four years later he became e.v.p. The presidency followed in 1988.
An advocate for ongoing education, community service, and excellence in his chosen industry, Manning earned numerous distinctions, from serving as chairman of the board of the Retail Grocers Association of Arizona from 1983 to 1984, and in 1988, to assuming the presidency of the Arizona Food Industry Circle of the City of Hope from 1998 to 1999, to being president of the Western Association of Food Chains from 2002 to 2003.
Manning's most enduring accomplishment at Bashas' was leading the company through a strategic diversification into four distinct formats, better enabling the grocer to meet Arizona's varied needs. He guided the acquisitions of Food City (a Hispanic-oriented store) and AJ's Fine Foods (an upscale/gourmet chain), complementing the conventional Bashas' stores and the Native American-targeted Bashas' DinE Markets-accomplished that contributed to the retailer being chosen as Progressive Grocer's 2005 Retailer of the Year.
Colgrove and Manning will join two other winners of the trade group's annual Excellence in Leadership Awards to be formally recognized during AFMA's annual banquet on November 16: Ann Hall, Western States government affairs manager, 7-Eleven, Inc., who AFMA has named Convenience Store Retailer of the Year; and Jeff Nelson, president, Arizona Division. Co-Sales Co., who has earned the association's Supplier of the Year award.
Colgrove, a 32-year veteran of food retailing, began his career with Albertsons in 1975 as a clerk in Colorado Springs, Colo. His career with Albertsons took him through 14 states across seven different operating divisions in various management positions, including store director, district manager, division manager, and division v.p.
As s.v.p., he led the integration efforts of the Intermountain West Division from four separate Albertson's divisions, creating a new entity that spanned 13 states and employed 35,000 associates. Before assuming the presidency of the Southwest Division, Colgrove was president of Albertsons' Dallas-Fort Worth division.
Manning began his career with Bashas' in the 1960s as a computer specialist. Following an absence several years during which he studied at the University of Kansas and had a brief stint in the Air Force, Manning returned to Bashas' and before long, was head of computer operations. By 1976, he was Bashas' general manager, and four years later he became e.v.p. The presidency followed in 1988.
An advocate for ongoing education, community service, and excellence in his chosen industry, Manning earned numerous distinctions, from serving as chairman of the board of the Retail Grocers Association of Arizona from 1983 to 1984, and in 1988, to assuming the presidency of the Arizona Food Industry Circle of the City of Hope from 1998 to 1999, to being president of the Western Association of Food Chains from 2002 to 2003.
Manning's most enduring accomplishment at Bashas' was leading the company through a strategic diversification into four distinct formats, better enabling the grocer to meet Arizona's varied needs. He guided the acquisitions of Food City (a Hispanic-oriented store) and AJ's Fine Foods (an upscale/gourmet chain), complementing the conventional Bashas' stores and the Native American-targeted Bashas' DinE Markets-accomplished that contributed to the retailer being chosen as Progressive Grocer's 2005 Retailer of the Year.
Colgrove and Manning will join two other winners of the trade group's annual Excellence in Leadership Awards to be formally recognized during AFMA's annual banquet on November 16: Ann Hall, Western States government affairs manager, 7-Eleven, Inc., who AFMA has named Convenience Store Retailer of the Year; and Jeff Nelson, president, Arizona Division. Co-Sales Co., who has earned the association's Supplier of the Year award.