BOULDER, Colo. — Sunflower Farmers Market said it has appointed Chris S. Sherrell as chief executive officer.
Sherrell, 34, has been acting CEO since the resignation in February of Sunflower founder Mike Gilliland. Sherrell has been with the company since its inception in 2002 and has been president and chief operating officer since October.
Sunflower operates 33 natural and organic supermarkets in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Texas. It plans to open its first California store later this month and its first store in Oklahoma in the fall.
Sherrell said the chain expects to open at least 17 stores within the next three years, for a total of 50. His goal, he said, is "to position Sunflower to hit the $1 billion sales mark within the next three to five years."
During his nine years with Sunflower Sherrell has been director of operations, new-store operations team manager, meat and seafood director and IT director.
