Martindale Becomes Rite Aid President/COO
The board of directors of Rite Aid Corp. has promoted senior EVP and COO Ken Martindale to the position of president and COO, effective immediately. John Standley, to whom Martindale continues to report, will remain as the company’s chairman and CEO.
A retail veteran with more than 35 years of operations, marketing and merchandising experience, Martindale joined Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid as senior EVP of merchandising, marketing and logistics in December 2008. Before that, he was co-president, chief merchandising and marketing officer for Carteret, N.J.-based Pathmark Stores Inc. until December 2007, when the company was sold to the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P).
Martindale began his retail career in 1975 with Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, where he rose from a district manager in store operations to SVP of marketing and SVP of sales and merchandising. In January 1998, he joined Fred Meyer Inc. after it purchased Smith’s. At Fred Meyer, he was EVP, sales and procurement until September 1999, when the company merged with Cincinnati-based Kroger.
Additionally, over the course of his retail career, Martindale founded and operated Salt Lake City-based food retailer Orchard Street Inc.; consulted for national and regional food retailers on category management, marketing and strategic planning; and was president, CEO and chairman of Intesource Inc., a Phoenix-based software company that aided food and drug retail, wholesale and manufacturing clients with procurement.
Martindale is currently president of The Rite Aid Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS).
“Since becoming our COO in 2010, Ken has continued to play a significant role in helping the company improve its overall performance and return to profitability,” noted Standley, adding that the promotion “is an opportunity for Rite Aid to further leverage his exceptional leadership skills, broad operating experience and strategic capabilities as we continue to focus on successfully growing our business.” Standley, like Martindale, is a Pathmark veteran, having been the chain’s CEO before its merger with A&P.
Rite Aid operates more than 4,600 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia.