By: Jordan Pietrak, Manager of Education, Food Marketing Institute
Each year, I have the pleasure of collecting the nominations for our Store Manager Awards and managing the judging process. Reading through 85 nominations this year was like taking a sneak peek into the lives of these everyday heroes; I was virtually witness to the impact they’ve made on their stores, with their employees and in their communities. Now that the judges have narrowed the field down to just 10 finalists, I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to celebrate the final four winners!
Our judges for the Store Manager Awards—human resources and training executives in the grocery industry—paid close attention to the nominees’ ability to generate sales growth, provide exceptional customer service and/or community relations, execute innovation in-store and demonstrate team leadership. And because we think our finalists are exceptional examples of the qualities an exemplary store manager should possess, we’ll be sharing their stories with you so that you can vote for your favorite store manager via our People’s Pick Award contest on FMI’s Facebook Page during the week of May 16. All 10 finalists will be posted to the FMI Facebook page under the page tab Store Manager Awards starting at 9:00 a.m. ET on May 16. The finalist with the most votes by Friday, May 20, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. ET will receive a special award and $500 to celebrate their store employees. Join in with #StoreManager and #FMIConnect.
And now, I’m pleased to announce our 10 Store Manager Award finalists:
Category A: (1-49 Stores)
Alberto Ayala, Northgate Gonzalez Market, Los Angeles, California
Larry Baxter, Roche Bros. Supermarkets, Boston, Massachusetts
Jon Wieser, Festival Foods, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Category B: (50-199 Stores)
Patty Bianco, Tops Markets, LLC, Grand Island, New York
David Couture, Hannaford Supermarkets, Wells, Maine
Piotr Soja, Big Y Foods, Inc., Northampton, Massachusetts
Category C: (200+ Stores)
Josh Birmingham, The Kroger Co. Columbus Division, Holland, Ohio
Jen Knesel, Hy-Vee, Inc., Winona, Minnesota
Angel Robles, Smart & Final Stores, LLC, Upland, California
Category D: (International)
Ted Pigeon, Overwaitea Food Group, Victoria, BC, Canada
These finalists join the industry at FMI Connect where the 2016 winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 22, during the 10:00 AM CT keynote address, Riding the Wave of Food Trends, featuring FMI President and CEO Leslie Sarasin, Mario Batali and Robert Irvine. Four grand-prize winners will receive a $1,000 prize and a crystal award.
Read the full stories of our 2016 Store Manager Awards finalists.
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