Wakefern Reveals $15.7B in Retail Sales

At Wakefern Food Corp.'s annual shareholders meeting, the retailer cooperative reported record retail sales of $15.7 billion for the 53-week fiscal year ending Oct. 3, 2015 – a 6.7 percent increase from the prior year – and $12.8 billion in wholesale sales.

During the same period, the company opened five new ShopRite stores and four Price Rite stores. 

"Our customers have different expectations of us today, and we need to meet those expectations," observed Wakefern Chairman and CEO Joseph S. Colalillo. "We are going to deliver that customer experience by uniting around our purpose and bringing our values to life in our stores."

Colalillo also revealed the retirement of two longtime members of Wakefern's board of directors: Steve Ravitz, president of Supermarkets of Cherry Hill, and Kenneth Capano, president and CEO of Five Star Supermarkets. "Both men will remain active in their own companies and with the cooperative," he said, going on to welcome new board members Neil Greenstein, president of Brookdale ShopRite/ShopRite of Newark, and Marshall Klein, VP and COO of Klein's Shoprite of Maryland.

Wakefern Board Appointments 

"Our world is rapidly evolving and we are transforming with it," noted CEO Joseph Sheridan, who was re-elected president and CEO during the event. "We're optimizing our brick-and-mortar experience, accelerating our digital platforms and engaging our associates to deliver the ultimate customer experience."

Also at the meeting, shareholders elected the following people to the board: Joseph S. Colalillo as chairman and CEO; Larri Wolfson, Irv Glass and Dominick J. Romano as vice chairmen; Lawrence Inserra Jr. as treasurer; Jeffrey Brown as assistant treasurer; Richard Saker as secretary; and Ned Gladstein and Nico Sumas as assistant secretaries, in addition to Robert Clare, Jordan Coe, Lawrence Collins Sr., Harry Garafalo, Jon Greenfield, Charles Infusino, Vincent Lo Curcio III, Leonard Sitar, Richard Tully and Richard McMenamin.

Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern comprises 50 members who individually own and operate more than 260 supermarkets under the ShopRite and The Fresh Grocer banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.