Ahold Delhaize USA has named Food Lion executive Greg Finchum as the grocery chain’s new president. Finchum joined Flood Lion in 1989 and had been its vice president of retail operations for more than a decade. He will assume his new role in May.
He will succeed Meg Mam, who has been president of Food Lion since 2014 and will retire in the spring.
Finchum has a track record of delivering sales growth and building strong brand, while creating emotional connections between associates and the brand, according to a release.
“We are excited to have Greg, a talented retail operator at heart, step into this role,” said JJ Fleeman, CEO, Ahold Delhaize USA, in a release. “Greg has held a variety of roles throughout the organization, including having served as head of strategy and head of retail services. He leads with a strategic discipline and focus that delivers strong results and solid performance at Food Lion. I look forward to working with him more closely in his new role next year as the leader for the brand.”
A resident of Salisbury, Finchum added: “I’m humbled to take on this new position in May. I want to thank JJ and Meg for being great mentors and for their confidence in me. Throughout my career at Food Lion, I’ve had the opportunity to work across many functions, in addition to retail operations, that have given me a depth of experience and knowledge about the Food Lion business that will serve me well as I prepare to transition to this new role.”
Salisbury-based Food Lion operates more than 1,100 stores and has more than 82,000 employees throughout 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. The company was founded in Salisbury in 1957 and was first known as Food Town. It was independently operated until it was acquired by Belgium-based conglomerate Delhaize Group in 1974. The company changed its branding to Food Lion in 1983. Delhaize and Netherlands-based Royal Ahold merged in 2015.
Ahold Delhaize USA is a division of Ahold Delhaize. It is part of the U.S. family of brands that also includes Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. When considered together, the companies of Ahold Delhaize USA comprise the largest grocery retail group on the East Coast and the fourth largest grocery retail group in the nation.