Meet Stop & Shop President Roger Wheeler
In a national trade press exclusive, Progressive Grocer got an interview with Roger Wheeler on the same day that the Ahold Delhaize USA executive was named the new president of Stop & Shop, succeeding Gordon Reid, who plans to retire in mid-2025. In the conversation with PG, Wheeler candidly discussed his background, the qualities he brings to his new job, his priorities in the position, and what he wants associates and customers to know.
Progressive Grocer: Could you tell me how you came to work at Ahold Delhaize USA?
Roger Wheeler: I grew up in Massachusetts. I had the great opportunity to go to the military Academy at West Point, which I did, and I was an army officer for a while, then got married to my high school sweetheart, and we decided we wanted to come back home and be near all of our extended families. So we did, and I went to business school. I wasn’t 100% sure what I wanted to do with myself, like a lot of folks at that age. One of the opportunities that came my way was to go into an executive development program for Shaw’s Supermarkets.
So, the first 10 years I was with Shaw’s and that experience was really unique because they wanted me first to go work in the stores for a few years to get grounded in the business the right way. I had the opportunity to do that and be a store manager. From there, I got into the office and got into buying and category management. I wound up in fresh as the VP of meat and seafood for Shaw’s. And at that time, Albertsons bought Shaw’s. Then there were a lot of things changing, and it turned out that Stop & Shop needed a VP of meat and seafood, and I happened to be a VP of meat and seafood. And when you’re in the supermarket business living in New England, Stop & Shop was the place to go. That was my opportunity.
In 2005, I came to work for Stop & Shop as VP of meat and seafood, and then went on to other roles within the organization. And then as the organization changed and shifted and [ultimately] through the merger and then creation of Ahold Delhaize USA, I had roles in supply chain and other things and led Retail Business Services and other jobs you can read about. But I’ve always worked out of the Quincy, Mass., office the last 20 years and shopped in the stores, so I’ve stayed really connected to the Stop & Shop brand. I’m very passionate about it. It’s very personal for me, and it’s been a big part of not just my life, but my extended family’s – we’re all customers.
PG: What do you think are the chief qualities that you bring to your latest role?
RW: Obviously, I’ve worked in a lot of different parts of the organization. I have the perspective of retail, but I’m [also] really strong in category management, merchandise – a lot of years in that, particularly in fresh – and then a long time in supply chain.
So, [there are] all those elements around those experiences, but probably more important are the experiences I’ve had leading large teams, building culture, focusing on the associates and their experiences, creating momentum around delivering on a strategy, dealing with complex situations that require lots of stakeholders. I had those experiences, so I’m bringing them all together to bear on a brand that I know fairly well, that I’m passionate about.
[RELATED: The Next 4 Years at Ahold Delhaize USA]
I know the challenges they’ve been facing and the work that we have underway and the work we have to do. I’m hoping I can really get the focus on the customer, on the associate. We need to win back our customers. … Obviously, competition is very tough. There’s work to do on our value proposition, and we’ve made a commitment to invest in our price position, which is one of our glaring opportunities. I have a lot of experience in fresh produce and meat. I think I can help with that. … I know the Stop & Shop customer – I am the Stop & Shop customer. I know what the brand standards are, what they should be and when they’re right and when they’re wrong. I know what good looks like, and I’m excited to bring that to the organization.
PG: Following on from that question, what would you say will be your top priorities as the new president of the Stop & Shop? Is it the price piece of it? Is it the fresh piece of it? Is it the customer piece of it?
RW: To me, the supermarket shopping experience is a collection of touch points, but it’s not ever one thing – certain things, like you just mentioned, are clearly standouts in our strategy of things we want to improve upon. We’re always looking at [the business] through two lenses – the customer and the associate – and we have to win the customer, and the greatest ability to do so is with our associates that are interacting with them day to day. I don’t just mean from a customer service point of view, because that’s obviously important. … You can buy the best produce, but getting it through the supply chain and onto the shelf and rotated and all those steps – those are our associates that are going do that, and so really making sure that we have the focus in the right place: Serve communities, sell groceries.
We care for associates; we build loyalty with our customers by consistency. And yes, we’re going to work on all those things – pricing, freshness – but I think it’s about getting back in touch with [the] strength of Stop & Shop, right? We’re all focused on what we need to work on, but let’s remember that we are still a brand that’s 110 years old and has a strong customer base that’s really rooting for us. [They’re] really rooting for us that we can get back to what they really remember it being. They are our greatest advocates, and the reason why they tell us what they don’t like is because they care. So [if] you are listening to the customers and inviting them into the conversation and being really in tune on how we can serve them better, that would be more powerful than any one program.
PG: Given that, do you have a particular message to Stop & Shop associates and shoppers as you take the helm?
RW: Today, talking to all the Stop & Shop associates, all the store managers, I’ve had a few messages for them. One is that I feel like I’m coming home to the brand. The second is that I know that we’ve been working hard through a lot of challenges, and even though we still have some difficult things we’re doing, like closing stores, we’re already into making price investments. I have extreme confidence in this for the future and that, together, working as a team, Stop & Shop will grow sales, grow market share [and] win back customer loyalty. It’s not an impossible mission here. This is what we’re going to do, and we’re going to do it together.
