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Festival Foods taps Ken Wicker to lead fresh departments

Southeastern Grocers/Bi-Lo veteran to join Wisconsin chain next month

Russell Redman

January 25, 2021

2 Min Read
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Before joining Festival Foods, Ken Wicker most recently served as senior vice president of fresh foods for Southeastern Grocers.Festival Foods

Ken Wicker will join Festival Foods early next month as senior vice president of fresh foods.

Green Bay, Wis.-based Festival Foods said Monday that Wicker, who has spent 35 years at Southeastern Grocers, is slated to start in his new post on Feb. 8. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of fresh foods for Jacksonville, Fla.-based Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of the Bi-Lo, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie supermarket chains.

“Ken brings great passion to fresh foods, and we are excited about his vast experience in other areas of grocery leadership,” Randy Munns, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Festival Foods, said in a statement.

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Wicker (left) started his career serving customers and later advanced to meat clerk, produce manager and store manager positions. He also held store support roles in loss prevention and labor management and as regional fresh foods manager, category manager for fresh meat, district manager, director of store operations and director of meat and seafood.

Most of Wicker’s career — more than 26 years — was spent at Greenville, S.C.-based Bi-Lo, which merged with Winn-Dixie Stores in March 2012 to become Bi-Lo Holding and then later combined with Harveys and Fresco y Más to form Southeastern Grocers in September 2013. Before becoming senior vice president of fresh merchandising at Southeastern Grocers, he served as regional vice president for Harveys and, prior to that, as director of store operations for Bi-Lo.

Related:Festival Foods’ Mike Mesich retires, Randy Munns named COO

The hiring of Wicker marks the second executive change announcement by Festival Foods in the past month. In late December, the company promoted Munns to COO and named Frank Abnet to succeed the retiring Mike Mesich as senior vice president of operations. Also promoted were Sean Sanders to vice president of center store and Joe Zink to vice president of center store merchandising.

Family- and employee-owned Festival Foods operates 33 full-service supermarkets across Wisconsin.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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