Shaw’s President to Retire

Larry Wahlstrom will retire from Shaw’s Supermarkets this spring after a 40-year career in the grocery business, the company said today. His successor, retail industry veteran Mike Stigers, has started in his new position this week. Wahlstrom has been president of West Bridgewater, Mass.-based Shaw’s since last summer.

The exact date of Wahstrom's departure hasn't yet been determined, a company spokesman told PG.

“Larry has been a strong leader whose many contributions have shaped our company,” noted Pete Van Helden, EVP of retail operations at Minneapolis-based Supervalu, Shaw’s parent company. Of Stigers, Van Helden said: “Mike’s long and diverse history in the grocery industry makes him uniquely qualified to lead Shaw’s and to unite our great associates as we fulfill our mission of becoming the leading neighborhood grocer in New England.”

Stigers began his grocery career in 1974 as a part-time courtesy clerk at Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway. Over the next 14 years, he rose through the management ranks before joining Jons Markets, a Los Angeles-based independent retailer. During the 1990s, he worked for retail technology companies, rejoining the grocery industry when he took the position of director of operations at PW Supermarkets, a San Jose, Calif.-based independent, in 1999. At PW, he was promoted to SVP, COO and ultimately CEO. Stigers comes to Shaw’s from Sterilox Food Safety, a Radnor, Pa.-based supplier of water-based food safety solutions for perishable items, where he was a regional VP.

“Working with a strong team of associates and serving customers through our wide network of stores throughout the region is an exciting opportunity,” said Stigers.