US retailer Safeway today (20 January) announced that Tom Keller, president of the company’s Vons division, will retire in February.

Keller, who has spent 40 years in the food industry, has been president of Vons since 1999. He started his career at Safeway as a food clerk and rose through the ranks. He left Safeway in 1991 to join Purity Supermarkets in Massachusetts as president and chief operating officer, but rejoined Safeway in 1998.

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“Tom leaves an important imprint on the organisation as an energetic and innovative leader,” said Safeway chairman, president and CEO Steve Burd. “We gratefully acknowledge his considerable and varied contributions to the success of our company and wish him the best in the years ahead.”

Gary Rocheleau, currently vice president of retail merchandising execution, will lead the Vons division on an interim basis.

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