Wakefern Reveals $13.6B in Retail Sales

At its annual shareholders’ meeting in East Brunswick, N.J., on Oct. 25, Wakefern Food Corp. reported that it had attained a record sales level of $13.6 billion in retail sales for the fiscal year ending Sept. 29, a 6.4 percent increase from the year-ago period, and $10.1 billion in warehouse sales. The Keasbey, N.J.-based retail cooperative also opened 10 new ShopRite stores and one new PriceRite store during the same period.

“We continue to be successful, in spite of tough competition and an even tougher economy,” said Wakefern chairman and CEO, Joseph S. Colalillo (left). “Our success hinges on our family-owned businesses and their ability to focus on our customers -- meeting, and exceeding, the unique demands of the different marketplaces in which we operate.”

Also at the meeting, which was attended by membership, store management and staff, Wakefern shareholders re-elected the following to the board of directors: Joseph S. Colalillo, chairman; James Sumas, Larri Wolfson and Irv Glass, vice chairmen; Lawrence Inserra Jr., treasurer; Richard Saker, Jeffrey Brown and Kenneth Capano, assistant treasurers; Dominick J. Romano, secretary; Ned Gladstein, Joel Perlmutter and Steven Ravitz, assistant secretaries; Rocco Cingari, Robert Clare, Lawrence Collins, Jon Greenfield, Charles Infusino, Bernard Kenny, Vincent Lo Curcio III, Leonard Sitar, Richard Tully and Richard McMenamin. President and COO Joseph Sheridan was also re-elected as an operating officer.

Wakefern comprises 48 members who individually own and operate almost 250 supermarkets under the ShopRite banner in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. The company also operates 50 PriceRite stores in six Northeast states. In addition, Wakefern distributes products to other supermarkets throughout the northeastern United States and Bermuda.