Albertson's

Craig Herkert, president and CEO of Supervalu, Inc., has joined the board of directors of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI).

Kip Faulhaber has been named VP of sales at Bi-Lo, LLC, where he will now oversee all of the strategic coordination of sales efforts for the 214-store chain.

Supervalu division Acme Markets has joined forces with Sunoco to introduce “Acme Gas RewardsTM”, an initiative that provides customers with savings at the pump each time they make a qualifying purchase at a participating Acme store. Customers can save as much as 25 cents per gallon on purchases of up to 20 gallons of gas when using their Acme Gas Rewards card at a local Sunoco station.

A new leader has been tapped to lead Supervalu’s 195-store New England-based Shaw’s division, in the wake of the news that its current president, Larry Wahlstrom, 57, is retiring after 38 years in the drug and food retailing industry. Mike Witynski, 46, group VP for Supervalu’s Our Own Brands private label unit, has been named to succeed Wahlstrom at the West Bridgewater, Mass.-based chain that runs stores under the nameplates of Shaw;s, Shaw’s Osco, and Star Market. Witynski takes the helm Aug. 10.

After weeks of tense negotiations, unionized employees at Philadelphia-based Acme Markets reached a new labor accord with the company that runs through February 2012. In a 985-19 vote, members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1776, which represents 4,000 Delaware Valley Acme workers, agreed to a contract that continues the health care plan and secures pensions.

While unionized workers at 40 of Supervalu’s Acme Markets subsidiary in the five-county Philadelphia area saw their extended contract expire at 12:01 a.m. this morning, no plans for a strike or a lockout had been announced at presstime, although what happens next remains to be seen.

Workers from 40 of Supervalu’s Philadelphia-based Acme Markets subsidiary overwhelmingly rejected a contract proposal that the company had described as its “last, best and final” offer.

After 39 negotiating sessions between Philadelphia-based Acme Markets subsidiary and the local labor union that represents its retail clerks over the past 18 months, executives from the Supervalu-owned supermarket chain said they’re prepared for a walkout next month but hope their 4,500 unionized workers in southeastern Pennsylvania will accept the company’s final contract offer to curtail such an action.