After 30 Months Of Ineptitude, Fresh & Green’s Withdraws From Baltimore-Washington Market
Upon further review, it was doomed from the start. From the day in June 2011 that Canadian-owned Catalyst Capital Group elected to enter the supermarket business in the competitive Baltimore-Washington market to its announcement made earlier this month that it would be closing its remaining Fresh & Green’s six stores, this adventure could have been part of a newer version of the 1970s movie, “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”
First, Catalyst Capital and its Natural Markets Food Group (NMFG) unit significantly overpaid (more than $20 million) for what amounted to eight old and semi-dilapidated Super Fresh/A&P units. Unlike the other retailers who successfully bid at auction on other Super Fresh units (Village ShopRite and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy), Fresh & Green’s chose not to close the store for renovations.
At the time, Matt Williams who headed the NMFG unit for Catalyst Capital, told me that the stores were being kept open to maintain a level of continuity and build morale among the associates. He also said that Fresh & Green’s would be receiving a significant capital investment to upgrade all the units.
Well, as you might have guessed, Matt Williams is long gone from the organization and, as for the so called “significant capital investment,” it never happened. In fact, in my 40 years of following acquisitions and their ultimate fates, I can’t recall one that was worse than the F&G debacle.
If you can believe it, the stores are uniformly worse than when A&P exited the market in 2011. Except for the outdoor signage, most of the six remaining stores look very much like the crappy Super Fresh units did before The Tea Company put most if its Maryland stores on the auction block in early 2011. Some of the units have even retained that signature nasty smell that seemed to be part of the “A&P experience.”
Perhaps the best move that NMFG made was deciding to unload two of its most promising locations (40th Street in BaltimoreCity and Perry Hall) to Giant/Landover less than a year after they were reopened as Fresh & Green’s. The Toronto based organization recouped a lot of its initial investment with those two sales.
And there might be some post-ownership light at the end of the tunnel, with at least two of the properties (Arnold, MD and on 48th Street NW in WashingtonDC) certain to generate interest from other food retailers.
Even the troubled NMFG organization seems to have gained some new energy. The company hired former Giant/Landover president Robin Michel as its CEO 13 months ago and she inherited the Fresh & Green’s mess and is taking the company in a new direction.
After waiting a year, Michel elected to shutter F&G, stating, “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the stores remained unprofitable,” she noted. “We’ve reached the point at which continuing to operate these stores does not make financial sense for the company,” Michel added in a statement.
Michel also pulled the plug in July on Wilde & Greene’s, a hybrid restaurant and food market in Skokie, IL which was open for only about two years.
So, if you’ve spent any time at all with Robin Michel, you know she’s one of hardest-working, most demanding leaders and well-traveled executives in the industry. She’s also hired several former Giant/Landover and Ahold USA executives who worked with her during her 18 month tenure in Landover (Chris Paradissis, Shige Hatanaka, Paul Aguiar, Brian Shelton, Rick Hoffman) while some other former Giant/Ahold USA recruits – Bob Rosato and Tom Nazzaro – have already left Robin’s nest. Meanwhile, she’s been busy expanding the organization under its Mrs. Green’s banner.
Mrs. Green’s, which was founded in Scarsdale, NY in 1991 and sold while under bankruptcy (from then parent firm Planet Organic) to Catalyst Capital in 2010, consisted of about a dozen small organic food and wellness stores in the upscale Westchester, NY and Fairfield County, CT areas.
In the past several months, Michel has added new and larger Mrs. Green’s stores in: Wilton, CT; Hartsdale, NY; Calgary, Alberta (NMFG also operates seven small Planet Organic stores in western Canada); and most recently in Chicago.
Other Mrs. Green’s stores are slated to open shortly in: Dobbs Ferry, NY; Manhattan, NY (Hudson Street); Tarrytown, NY; New Canaan, CT; Princeton, NJ; another Chicago unit; and a new store in Fairfax, VA.
We’ve been told by several sources that the company is eyeing a future initial public offering (IPO). If true, that’s mind boggling, only because of the size of the NMFG organization, which currently consists of 14 small organic food stores, a large restaurant in Toronto (Richtree Natural Market) and the seven aforementioned Planet Organic stores in Western Canada.
None of the food stores individually are currently generating enough volume to be considered “prime time” and there’s just not enough heft for Wall Street to even give credence to a public venture (even though the parent company operates essentially as a hedge fund).
It’s a long road to the public markets, as witnessed by Fairway and Sprout’s, which are both doing considerably more volume and have established much stronger reputations with their customers. NMFG is years away from reaching that level of success and credibility (if it ever does).
So, the Fresh & Green’s era is over. Thirty months of abysmally poor performance by an operation with an operating model that might only be beneficial to business schools who could use it as a teaching platform about how to not to operate a supermarket organization.
A&P: Same Bad Retailing, Only Worse
And speaking of ineptitude, although it is no longer a significant factor in the Mid-Atlantic region with only a handful of stores remaining in Maryland and Delaware, A&P remains somewhat of an iconic name with a solid (but rapidly declining) presence in the Philadelphia and Metro New York markets.
New ownership, constantly evolving management teams, sweepstakes, contests and games – it really doesn’t matter which era of A&P you want to scrutinize from the past 35 years, the results are generally the same. Sure, you might think that Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa team (chairman Greg Mays and CEO Sam Martin) would actually try to become more competitive once the company emerged from bankruptcy, wiping away a huge debt from supermarket chain’s balance sheet.
Think again.
In fact, there are many who would argue that the A&P of today is even worse than it was in the waning days of Christian Haub’s 30 year magical mystery tour at the Montvale, NJ based retailer (except perhaps Yucaipa, which now holds millions of dollars worth of real estate and also gained major economic concessions for A&P’s labor unions and a new streamlined contract from its primary supplier C&S).
Where are the new and significantly remodeled stores that we thought were on the way? Oh, I guess I must have been out of the country when the new batch of “ribbon cuttings” occurred after the Pathmark in Weehawken, NJ was remodeled shortly after Burkle & Co. took the helm. How about the innovative marketing and merchandising approach that the now privately-held supermarket chain was going to develop to gain market share against existing operators ShopRite (which should pray daily that A&P sticks around for a long time) and Stop & Shop while at the same time neutralizing growing emerging competitors such as Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Wegmans and retailers from other channels who have drank from the A&P trough for many years?
OK, Ron Burkle is a brilliant guy. His financial track record in the supermarket industry over the past 40 years illustrates that he’s netting a lot more than one percent annually from the business he started in. But in the retailing world of 2013, it’s simply too difficult to actually compete on the playing field – especially if you play the game like the (once) Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. So should it be surprising that Credit Suisse is exploring A&P’s future options? If I pulled off a deal where I controlled much of the company’s real estate and gained major givebacks from my two largest payroll factors (unions and supply chain), why wouldn’t I want to “get out of dodge” knowing that since Yucaipa gained control of A&P in March 2012 sales have continued to be generally poor. And throw in the possibility that New Albertsons/Cerberus might be looking to sell some or all of its retail banners (including Acme) within the next 12-18 months – that might be an additional incentive to want to sell stores.
But wait, A&P still has to operate stores. And with double-digit declining sales (according to recent syndicated data), a fierce competitive landscape (both in Philadelphia and Metro New York) and apparently no significant cap-ex being directed toward improving its old and tired store base, it looks like the new management team has dusted off the playbook of former A&P CEO Jim Wood from the early 1980s. Some of you might remember its unofficial title: “Pay Me First And I Might Actually Sell Something (but don’t hold me to it).”
Actually, the Tea Company has been a member of the “pay to play” church for even longer than Wood’s long reign at the company. But recently, A&P has put a different twist on that ancient, weary and beaten dead horse.
In a memo dated September 25 sent to “all vendor partners,” A&P informed its suppliers, distributors and brokers that it is now capable of automatically invoicing them on the same day via email. The memo was issued by A&P’s current CFO Bill Barrett, who joined A&P 10 months ago (making him a seasoned veteran at the chain), and noted that the retailer has two options available for the payment of invoices: 1) Immediate deductions from accounts receivable (direct vendor accounts) or via C&S (indirect vendor accounts or 2) Immediate deduction via a vendor maintained pre-payment account at A&P sufficient to cover future invoices. The memo also notes that “if you are not using these options today, your account will default to ‘Option 1,’ effective October 1.
One can only imagine how delighted the vendors were when they received Mr. Barrett’s missive.
I sensed that by the volume of emails and phone calls I received and the unfiltered expressions of emotions that followed.
“I’d very much like to support the ‘Bank of A&P,’ but my clients may object to this,” said a senior executive at a large food brokerage organization whose company has been calling on A&P for many years. “I’ll have to check on how enthusiastic my clients are about putting money in their account to collect interest.”
“Isn’t C&S getting a slice of the pie already?” another executive at a direct sales company caustically wondered. “Do they need to be part of A&P’s act of desperation?”
Of the approximately 12 vendors (brokers, DSD firms and direct sales companies) that I talked to about this new policy not one gave the new program any validity. All saw the invoicing and collection policy for what it is: a money grab.
I asked all of my contacts to try to be more objective and find a positive spin in judging this program. Only one did and his response was:
“Since A&P is one of our biggest deduction scofflaws in relationship to the cases they sell, maybe you could argue that keeping a small amount of money in a pre-paid account would offset the man-hours used and the headaches created when chasing their deductions which can take months to be repaid even when we’ve proven our case – and we’re right more than 90 percent of the time,” an A&P team leader for a large snack food company offered.
What a great compliment. It really is like déjà vu all over again, except the mindset of the vendor community is much different than it was even five years ago. Other than the small or regional vendors who count on A&P’s business for their survival (and they will be hurt if they don’t comply), the majority of the brokers, distributors and manufacturers who call on the Tea Company, and control an overwhelmingly large percentage of sales, aren’t going to be bullied.
A&P is no longer important in their universe. If the punishment for non-compliance is the delisting of items, the larger suppliers won’t blink and A&P will be worse off for it. Those vendors and brokers are going to spend their discretionary funds with accounts that are growing and can assure them of a fair return on their investments.
Their collective unspoken message to A&P is clear: Why don’t you try selling something?
‘Round The Trade
As expected, Fresh & Easy, Tesco’s failed and bankrupt entry into the U.S. food retailing business, was given Delaware court approval to sell 150 of its approximately 200 stores to private equity firm Yucaipa Cos. in a deal that will see Tesco loaning $120 million to Yucaipa. The PE company, controlled by billionaire Ron Burkle, has named former 7-Eleven CEO Jim Keyes to run the F&E venture, which many believe will ultimately re-emerge as Wild Oats Markets, the natural/organics retailer Yucaipa had a major stake in before it was acquired by rival Whole Foods in 2007. There was also an interesting related piece to this story that appeared on nasdaq.com which stated that Tesco, knowing it was losing money ($22 million a month) and facing bankruptcy, pulled $215 million out of Fresh & Easy to cover other company expenses and possibly make it easier for potential creditors that were not paid (due to the bankruptcy) to sue to challenge the sale of Fresh & Easy to an interested party such as Yucaipa Cos. The nasdaq.com story notes that, of the funds pulled out of Fresh & Easy, $18.9 million was used to repay debt owed Tesco, another $10 million went to cover Tesco payroll costs in the U.K. and India and $15 million was termed “all other payments.” …after six years of operating control, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (MSCP) has sold its 66 percent stake in Buffalo based Tops Friendly Markets to six current executives including veteran Top’s CEO Frank Curci. No great surprise here as MSCP has been looking for an exit strategy for quite a while and a public offering didn’t seem likely since the regional chain lost $9.5 million during the first six months of 2012. Along with Curci, the other Tops executives included in the deal are: Kevin Darrington, COO; Rick Mills (former Weis exec), CFO; John Persons, SVP-operations; Jack Barrett, SVP-HR; and Lynne Burgess, SVP-general counsel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but you can bet that Curci & co. got a cool deal since MSCP’s options were limited and the management group has done a solid job in improving the organization since MSCP acquired Tops from Ahold USA six years ago. (Curci served as Top’s CEO when AUSA owned the retailer). You can also expect a further refinancing plan to be announced after this deal closes by year’s end…while many retailers are continuing to face another prolonged period of soft sales, the November 1 federal government reduction of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits will only add more salt to their wounds. The government mandated cutback affects 47 million families. On a monthly basis that means household reductions of $11(one person), $20 (two people), $29 (three people) and $36 (four people). That’s a big number to swallow, especially when retailers have seen SNAP usage escalate in recent years to where 5-8 percent of total sales for a typical store are comprised of food stamp usage. And it may even get worse if the House of Representatives get its way. The House wants to cut an additional $40 billion from the food stamp program as part of the pending new Farm Bill… it was another flat quarter for Wal-Mart in the U.S. as comp store sales decreased 0.3 percent in its third quarter ended October 25. Additionally, grocery comps dropped 0.7 percent for the 13 week period. On the earnings side of the ledger, the Behemoth’s profit increased $3.6 billion to $6.3 billion. At its Neighborhood Markets banner, which is targeted for major expansion in the next two years, comp store revenue rose 3.4 percent. And besides all the hoopla surrounding the announcement of Doug McMillon as its incoming CEO and the ribbon cuttings in the District, Wal-Mart is once again making an attempt to build a new 100,000 square foot SuperCenter about a mile from the large NationalHarbor development in Oxon Hill, MD. Two years ago it unveiled a plan to build a store near the big shopping, restaurant and hotel venue, but was rebuffed because Prince George’s County Council members had issues with the store design. Wal-Mart has since modified its design to better handle traffic and safety concerns… at Brussels-based Delhaize Group, the company’s “brand repositioning” efforts at its Food Lion and Hannaford banners appear to be helping sales, but not profit. At its U.S. stores, which also include Bottom Dollar Foods, total revenue grew 2.2 percent to $4.4 billion and comparable store sales increased 2.2 percent as well in the third quarter. However, underlying profit at its U.S units (not including Sweetbay, Harveys and Reid’s which are in the process of being sold to Bi-Lo Holdings) dipped 20.2 percent to $169 million and operating margins were down a full percentage point to 3.9 percent of sales. Overall, the international retailer said additional price investments helped create a $112 million loss. As I’ve said in the past, Delhaize’s U.S. stores remain in big trouble, especially if even bigger gains aren’t achieved at its flagship Food Lion banner. We’ll be better able to judge Delhaize’s U.S. performance in mid-2014 when the company cycles new numbers a full year after implementing its “brand repositioning” efforts. And, last month, Food Lion finally completed the last phase of its “brand repositioning” by revamping 169 stores in eastern North Carolina and South Carolina. The rebranding effort began 30 months ago with the refurbishment of 167 stores in the Raleigh, NC and Fayetteville, NC markets. On a related Food Lion/Delhaize America note, it didn’t take long for short-term former Delhaize America CEO Roland Smith to find work. Office Depot, which recently acquired rival Office Max, has named the well-traveled Smith as its new chief executive. He replaces co-CEOs Neil Austrian and Ravi Saligram, who will be leaving the Boca Raton, FL based office supply retailer…staying south, Southeastern Grocers, the parent firm of the newly aligned Bi-Lo/Winn-Dixie stores, posted significantly decreased earnings of $14.2 million in its third quarter ended October 2. That represented a 55.2 percent profit plummet. Sales also declined 3.1 percent. Southeastern Foods, which is controlled by Lone Star Funds and former Randall’s CEO Randall Onstead, is attempting to launch an IPO next year…Harris Teeter’s fourth quarter numbers were considerably better, although its profit was down, too, primarily because of costs associated with its pending sales to Kroger the Matthews, NC-based retailer said. Fourth quarter profit was $21.1 million, down 7.5 percent ($5.9 million was attributed to merger related expense). Overall revenue jumped 4.5 percent, driven by new stores, and comp store sales increased a healthy (for the current economic environment) 1.5 percent. HT is still hopeful that the FTC will approve the sale before the New Year. Some of Harris Teeter’s new store activity (and Bi-Lo’s new store activity, too, with 22 acquired units) have come from purchasing six Piggly Wiggly supermarkets in South Carolina and what remains of Piggly Wiggly Carolina (PWC) – 32 corporate stores and 28 franchised units – will be supplied by C&S from its Greenville, SC distribution center. In the process, PWC will shutter depots in North Charleston, SC and Jedberg, SC…shortly before we went to press, it was announced that Safeway had sold 11 more of its Chicago area Dominick’s stores to Roundy’s for $36 million in cash. It’s a good fit for Roundy’s, whose CEO Bob Mariano once was Dominick’s chief executive, too. The stores will be converted to the upscale Mariano’s banner (currently 13 units, with five more planned in 2014), giving Roundy’s a significantly stronger presence in Chicagoland. Safeway previously sold three Dominick’s units to Jewel and said it will exit the market on December 28. With only 14 of a possible 72 stores having been moved since Safeway announced it was withdrawing from its 15 year old failed investment in October, the process seems extremely slow. However, one of our Chicago sources said that he expected more activity once the remaining stores are closed,
because interested parties will have more negotiating leverage with Safeway and can also avoid possible union organization if the stores are dark for 30 days. And our source added, “Chicago is severely overstored, a number of units are mediocre or poor and with new competition moving in – Wal-Mart, Meijer and Roundy’s – I could envision a good number of stores not being moved.” His description seemingly could apply to every major metro market in the U.S.
Local Notes
Plenty of Ahold news to report this month, including its third quarter sales performance, which was generally flat (a trend we’re seeing all too much lately in the supermarket portal). The Amsterdam-based retailer said that net sales, underlying income and operating income were marginally down, but net profit rose 17 percent. At its U.S. stores, identical sales growth was 0.1 percent (0.6 percent excluding gas). The Dutch merchant noted that “…our stores maintained stable volumes and had low levels of inflation. In a promotional market, our U.S. operations gained market share. Consumer confidence in the economy remained fragile.” During the quarter, AUSA closed six New Hampshire units. Underlying U.S. profit margin was 4.0 percent compared to 4.1 percent last year. At the end of the third quarter, AUSA operated 772 stores, three fewer than in the corresponding period in 2012. Just before presstime, we learned that AUSA’s CEO Paula Price will be leaving the company at year’s end to pursue a career in academia – she will lecture at a leading university on leadership and technical topics. An extremely nice and very talented lady, we wish Paula all the best in her new career direction. She’ll be replaced by Dan Sullivan, currently senior VP-business planning and performance for AUSA, who joined the Carlisle, PA-based retailer in 2010 after serving as the chief financial and operating officer for Heineken USA. And a tip of the hat to Ahold USA’s Giant/Landover unit, which last month opened its 8th &O Street store in Washington, DC. The new replacement supermarket is truly beautiful – coupling the original “city market” flavor with a stunning modern design. Giant/Landover has another DC project under way (Wisconsin Avenue; it also opened 3rd & H Street earlier this year) and with the Wal-Mart openings earlier this month, the growing presence of Whole Foods (which is constructing a new unit near Nationals Park and has reportedly agreed to build another new unit on H Street NE between 6th and 7th Streets) and Harris Teeter (a new store is being built near Nationals Stadium) as well the investment that DC market leader Safeway has made in the past five years (new stores are also slated for the Petworth and Tenley Circle areas), the District has become a hotbed of new store activity. Additionally, there may or may not be a Wegmans coming to the nation’s capital. The Rochester, NY uber-retailer was very interested in the former Walter Reed Hospital site, and aligned themselves with District developer Roadside Development. However, early last month, the city selected another developer, Hines Interests, to transform the Medical Center complex into a three million square foot mixed-use project. Whether the District’s decision to eliminate Roadside from consideration would be a deal-killer for Wegmans remains to be seen…other stores to open in the past 30 days include Harris Teeter’s Clarksburg, MD unit (it will cut the ribbon at its Crown Farm store in Gaithersburg, MD next month, giving the upscale retailer six stores in Montgomery County) and the debut of The Fresh Market in Ashburn, VA (perhaps the most overstored berg in the entire Mid-Atlantic region)…Wakefern, the largest wholesale food co-op in the country (and expanding rapidly), is suing Lexington Insurance Co, a unit of AIG, for breach of contract, alleging that the big insurance firm has yet to pay out more than a small portion of losses at its members’ ShopRite stores as a result of Hurricane Sandy last year. Filed in Superior Court in Middlesex County, NJ, the Keasbey, NJ-based wholesaler is reportedly claiming that Lexington has denied coverage for more than $50 million in losses caused by the devastating storm. Wakefern is also allegedly charging that Lexington failed to respond promptly and meaningfully to its claims and then didn’t investigate them with due diligence. The complaint covers approximately 300 ShopRite and PriceRite stores…it was a challenging third quarter at Weis Markets. The Sunbury, PA-based regional chain posted a 31.9 percent dip in earnings for the period ended September 28. Profits were $11.7 million for the period and both overall sales (negative 1 percent) and comp store revenue declined (negative 2.9 percent). Weis said that “stagnant” center store sales in certain categories and significant deflation in fuel costs contributed to the volume drop. The closely-held regional chain took a $2.1 million impairment loss on four properties and also posted a $6.1 million charge related to the separation agreement with former CEO Dave Hepfinger, who resigned in September. Weis said it recently has stepped up its promotional and sales building activities and expanded its loyalty marketing efforts to ignite sales in its fourth quarter. More Weis stuff: Mike Mignola, senior VP-store operations, who was one of Hepfinger’s first hires from Price Chopper, has left the organization and the retailer has appointed John Neuberger as VP-operational administration. He will oversee the retailer’s store support functions including budgeting, sales and labor, net income performance, best methods for operations and retail efficiencies, inventory shrink and total store customer service. Neuberger is a Price Chopper alum. Joining Weis, too, are Marie Underkoffler as director of compensation and benefits and James Murphy as director of construction. November was a very busy month for the regional chain as well with ribbon cuttings at its two State College, PA units (remodelings), a new store in Huntingdon Valley, PA (a former Pathmark) and the unveiling of major remodelings in Danville, PA; Brodheadsville, PA; Pasadena, MD; and Odenton, MD…another baffler from the so-called “Wizards of Wall Street.” After Whole Foods, the best performing supermarket chain in the country over the past two years, posted a profit gain of 7.1 percent, an overall revenue increase of 2.2 percent and a 5.9 percent jump in comp store sales in its fourth quarter ended September 29 (12 weeks vs. 13 weeks last year), its performance was heavily criticized by many financial analysts. Apparently those strong numbers weren’t good enough for the armchair money changers who downgraded the stock (creating a sizeable dip in share price) and faulted the Austin, TX natural and organics retailer’s sales and earnings performance. To be fair, WFM did lower its financial guidance for fiscal 2014, but the chain’s numbers continue to be “off the chart” especially when compared to its supermarket peers. Share price, despite the recent tumble, has increased nearly 40 percent this year and in FY 2014 the company plans to open between 32 and 38 new stores. “We reported record fourth quarter operating results which contributed to the best fiscal year performance in our company’s 35-year history. For the last four years, we have increased our new store openings while producing improvements in operating margin and higher returns on invested capital, and we expect these trends to continue in fiscal year 2014,” said John Mackey, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market. “We are dedicated to providing our communities with fresh, healthy, natural and organic food, and with 94 leases in our development pipeline, we look forward to delivering accelerating new store growth for several years to come.” That statement alone will hopefully allow the financial analysts to gain some perspective. Although I doubt it…kudos to Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens, who delivered a masterful speech to more than 200 students last month at the Pat McCarthy Lecture Series at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Not only was Gheysens’ talk detailed and interesting, his humble, self-deprecating style was a big hit with the future food industry executives. Filling retired chief executive Howard Stoeckel’s shoes is indeed a tall order, but I think Wawa got it right when they promoted Gheysens, who I believe is a future superstar in the food industry…it’s been a difficult month with several industry deaths, which always seem heavier around the hol
idays. Passing away late last month was Bob Carey, former president of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), one of the early produce pioneers, who took the helm at the Newark, DE trade association in 1958 when it was almost bankrupt. “Bob’s real genius was getting the best out of everyone around him – members and staff – and that’s become a core part of PMA’s culture,” noted current PMA CEO Silbermann. “Bob’s leadership was the linchpin for PMA’s growth and success, but it was his engaging personality, compassion, humor and empathy that endeared him to all those around him.” Carey, who retired in 1996, was 82. The industry also lost another engaging personality with the passing of Herb Schwartz, former co-owner of general merchandise firm Rainbow Distributors. Herb began his career as a rack jobber for Merchandising Sales in the late 1960s and he and his partner Nels Leavey founded Rainbow in 1976. He sold his share of the business to Leavey in 1990 and entered a new career in the mortgage business. Leavey noted: “Herb was the most likeable, honest and selfless man I ever met. He was an adoring and loving father and grandfather. He was well respected in the industry and his customers became and remained his friends. His lasting legacy is that whenever you mention his name, people would smile and remember a moment when he touched their lives. I knew Herbie for 40 years. He was not only my partner, but my best friend. He will be missed by all who had the great privilege of knowing him.” I’m sad to also report the death of Al Mindel, one of the mainstays at Giant/Landover for more than 30 years. Al began at Giant in 1956 as a cashier in the company’s Seven Corners, VA unit and in 1964 was elevated to a headquarters post where he wore many hats, including director of grocery, pharmacy and bakery merchandising. Al was a tough bird with a big heart who had a great memory and uncanny street smarts. Herb Whiteside has also passed away. The former A&P executive, who spent his entire 38 year career at the Tea Company, died last month. When I first arrived in town in 1978, Herb Whiteside was one of the first people I met. His self-deprecating humor and folksy personality belied his uncanny people skills and native intelligence about the grocery business and how life really works. Herb was a dedicated and loyal leader who had many jobs with A&P, and despite the ups and downs of the business, always retained a positive and proactive approach. He was the ultimate gentle giant and I’ll miss his warmth, humor and compassion. Finally, I am very remorseful about the passing of my friend Wolf Mueller. Wolfgang Mueller was 94 years old when he passed and he lived virtually every day until nearly the end to the fullest. But, if you lived his life and were gifted with his DNA, you’d probably do the same. Born in Germany in 1919, Wolf was a Holocaust survivor, a U.S. Army veteran, a great family man, an entrepreneur, a raconteur, a joke teller, a tennis player, an art collector, an author – well, he truly was a Renaissance man – a person who could find common ground with his aging peers as well as his nine grandchildren and 16 very young great-grandchildren. Wolf spent more than 40 years in the meat and seafood business most recently with NAFCO Seafood (retiring only a few years ago). I am the son of two Holocaust survivors and Wolf, through his network of contacts in Germany, helped track the histories of my mother and father and their families. For that I am eternally grateful. To his wife, the lovely and vivacious Sonya, his daughter JoAnn Pearlman, son-in law Stanley Pearlman, their four children – Jonathan, Jessica, Jamie and Jeffrey – and their children, this is a tremendous loss and I offer them my deepest condolences. To his extended family and friends, there will also be something missing. Wolf Mueller was a very special person who touched many others with his charismatic personality and unique ability to make you feel better about yourself.
