Giant Food Names New – and Familiar – Chief Merchant
Industry vet Tonya Herring is coming back to the Giant Food banner in a new role. The 30-year grocery professional was named chief merchant for the Washington, D.C.-area retailer, moving on from her most recent position as SVP of omnichannel development for Peapod Digital Labs, supporting Giant Food’s parent company Ahold Delhaize USA.
Among other accomplishments at Peapod, Herring spearheaded the commercial evolution of Ahold Delhaize USA’s omnichannel efforts. In her prior tenure at Giant Food, she was SVP of merchandising, leading business plan designs and overseeing category management, pharmacy, pricing, promotion and merchandising planning. Her background also includes more than two decades of work at Safeway, Inc., where she was VP of category development, group director of category development for consumer brands and regional director.
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It’s a welcome homecoming for Herring. “The entire Giant Food family is thrilled to welcome Tonya back to our team,” declared President Ira Kress. “With her deep merchandising expertise, she will bring a wealth of knowledge and leadership to the Giant Food brand in this role.”
For her part, Herring said she is looking forward to the latest opportunity. “As a Maryland local, Giant Food has been part of my community for years. I am ecstatic to be continuing my career back at Giant and look forward to implementing positive changes within our merchandising sector,” she remarked.
Based in Landover, Md., Giant Food operates 165 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia, with approximately 20,000 associates. Included within the 165 stores are 153 full-service pharmacies, more than 80 full-service PNC Banks and 29 Starbucks locations. Parent company Ahold Delhaize USA is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century and among its Top Sustainable Grocers.
