ST. LOUIS, November 14, 2008 – Save-A-Lot has announced newly hired and recently promoted members of the company’s executive staff.  The company’s new leaders will work alongside the current management team to continue to strengthen Save-A-Lot’s position as one of the nation’s leading grocery store chains.

Save-A-Lot announces the recently hired members of its management team:

Bill Gillispie joined Save-A-Lot as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising. He will lead the company’s consumer centric strategy and selling by keeping pace with strategic analytics, planning, branding, and category management. Gillispie has extensive merchandising, marketing and grocery retailing experience throughout the SUPERVALU banner including holding positions with Scotts Food, Cub Foods and Jewel Food Stores.

Tom Lenkevich joined Save-A-Lot as Senior Vice President of Retail Operations and will lead the company’s retail operational excellence including sales and earnings results for all corporate and licensed stores.  Lenkevich was a former Save-A-Lot licensed owner and has held top management positions at Meijer Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company and Farmer Jack’s.

Andrea Wagner joined Save-A-Lot as Vice President of Consumer-Brand Strategy.  Wagner held previous positions at Kroger and HEB grocery store chains.  Wagner has a strong knowledge of Hispanic consumers, and in her role will manage all aspects of the Save-A-Lot brand including exclusive label packaging and design, adverting and marketing and store design.

Vanessa Foster joined Save-A-Lot as the Director of Communications and Community Relations.  Foster will lead the company’s public relations, media relations, community relations, charitable giving as well as internal and customer communication.  Foster joins Save-A-Lot from Cartoon Network where she managed its community relations and multicultural marketing initiatives.

Save-A-Lot announces the following Vice President & Director level promotions:

John Gerber was promoted to Vice President of Distribution.  Gerber has been with SUPERVALU since 1985 and joined Save-A-Lot in 2002 where he has held various roles in the company’s distribution division.  In his new role, Gerber will oversee the company’s 15 distribution centers and transportation network.

Mike Kemp was promoted to Vice President of Product Segments.  Kemp joined Save-A-Lot in 2003 and has managed the company’s procurement of meat and perishables.  In Kemp’s new role, he will be responsible for the company’s procurement of produce, meat, dairy, bakery and seafood.

Donna Mickens was promoted to Director of Organization Effectiveness.  Mickens will oversee executive-level development with a focus on succession planning and identification of key talent within the company. She will direct company-wide change management initiatives.  Prior to joining Save-A-Lot, Mickens was a managing partner at MCG, an organization change consulting firm and a professor at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.


About Save-A-Lot
Save-A-Lot, the nation’s leading extreme value, edited assortment grocery chain and the nation’s fifth largest grocery banner, operates approximately 1,200 value-oriented stores in all types of neighborhoods: urban, rural and suburban, and delivers up to 40 percent of savings compared to conventional grocery stores. Save-A-Lot is a wholly owned subsidiary of SUPERVALU INC., one of the largest companies in the U.S. grocery channel. For more information and a list of store locations, visit www.save-a-lot.com.

Media Contact:
Jaime Powers, (314) 592-9504
jaime.powers@save-a-lot.com