Wakefern makes flurry of management moves

Retail grocery cooperative Wakefern Food Corp., operator of the ShopRite banner, has announced a series of management promotions and changes.

Jeffrey Mondelli, vice president of pharmacy, health and beauty care (HBC), and general merchandise, has shifted to the role of vice president of grocery, Wakefern President and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Sheridan said in a company memo late last week. After serving as a ShopRite pharmacist for nearly five years, Mondelli joined Wakefern in 2013 as a procurement manager in the pharmacy division and was promoted to vice president of pharmacy in 2017. He added oversight of the HBC category in 2019.

“In 2020, Jeff was chosen to lead Wakefern’s COVID-19 pandemic response, a critical role that continues to help us successfully navigate our crisis response,” Sheridan stated in the Feb. 4 memo.

Wakefern President and COO Joseph Sheridan reported the management changes in a company memo last week. (Photo courtesy of Wakefern)

With Mondelli’s move to grocery, Pat Mooney has transitioned to vice president of HBC and nonfoods. He most recently served as vice president of merchandising support, leading merchandising efforts and establishing best practices for sourcing, commodity tracking and vendor cost management. He has been with Wakefern since 2009 and started off as a business analyst before taking on various roles in procurement, category management, grocery, merchandising and sales planning.

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Taking over for Mooney, Seth Nieman has been promoted to vice president of merchandising support after serving as director of marketing and sales planning for over a year-and-a-half. In the new role, he will oversee the vendor management office, pricing analytics department and the space planning team. Nieman came to Wakefern in 2018 as a product manager in the own brands division, where Sheridan said he was pivotal in leading the go-to-market strategy and launch of Bowl & Basket and Paperbird categories.

In other appointments, Wakefern elevated Harshil Patel from pharmacy services manager to director of pharmacy — noting that he played a key role in implementing the COVID-19 vaccine program at ShopRite pharmacies — and promoted Francisco Alberto from promotional strategy manager to director of marketing and sales planning. Also, Michael Day, vice president of strategic planning and transformation, has now assumed responsibility for business development and member services, as well as the real estate division.

“We are excited to report recent promotions at Wakefern that will enhance our dynamic leadership team and position us for continued growth and success,” Sheridan told employees in the memo. “All of these recent changes enable the cooperative to move forward and continue to succeed in 2022,” he added.

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The nation’s largest retailer-owned grocery cooperative, Wakefern has a retail network of more than 360 supermarkets in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island under the banners ShopRite (nearly 280 locations), The Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market and Dearborn Market.