David Criscione has joined HAC Inc., the parent company of regional grocer Homeland Grocery Stores, as president and CEO.
Oklahoma City-based HAC said Thursday that Criscione was hired as chief executive after its board of directors conducted a nationwide search, assisted by Bryant Park Search Partners.
“I am thrilled to be joining the HAC team,” Criscione (pictured left) said in a statement. “I see so much potential for the organization, and I look forward to leading a dedicated group of employee-owners and serving the communities where we are located.”
HAC noted that Criscione brings more than 30 years of experience in the grocery and retail industries. Most recently, he served as CEO of Jyve Corp., a technology platform that matches the in-store execution needs of brands with the relevant talent.
Before that, he spent over three years at Walmart International as senior vice president, which followed more than a year at Walmart Canada as executive vice president of e-commerce. Previously, he was vice president and general manager at Amazon — launching the e-tail giant’s physical food store efforts as GM of Amazon Go — as well as chief strategy and business development officer at Delhaize America and senior vice president of marketing, strategy and business development at Hannaford Supermarkets.
“We were focused on finding an individual whose values align with our employee owners’ values, has deep grocery industry experience, and has a record of developing and successfully implementing strategic thinking,” stated HAC Chairman Richard May. “David clearly distinguished himself from a strong field of candidates, and we feel fortunate to have his leadership onboard as HAC embarks on building its exciting and challenging next chapter of growth.”
Overall, HAC operates 78 grocery stores under such banners as Homeland, United, Cash Saver, Ponca City Discount Foods, Food World and Piggly Wiggly in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Georgia. The employee-owned retailer’s Homeland banner also is Oklahoma’s largest locally owned supermarket chain, with 37 locations across the state.
