Few people in Arcadia are aware that all 277 Vons and Pavillions grocery stores are run from a corporate headquarters building in Arcadia.
Fewer still may know that last month Lori Raya was named the first woman President of Vons in the company’s 106-year history.
Raya formally met many of the 234 employees in the Arcadia headquarters Wednesday, Feb. 8, for the first time. Some of them have been around long enough to remember that their office building just north of Huntington Drive between Sunset and Michilinda was once the old May Company store. Only those employees and a few others realize that the escalators in that old store are still in use at the corporate office, which also now features a gymnasium.
After the most important focus for Raya of serving customers and the managers of the stores who deal with customers firsthand — she even told employees to take a call from store before answering a call from their President — Raya said it is important to her to make sure Vons is gives back to the community in which it is based, Arcadia. “We are part of the community,” she said. This month Vons is sponsoring the annual Arcadia Chamber of Commerce Planning Conference on Feb. 23 at Santa Anita Park.
<Story continues below the following 3 1/2-minute video interview with Raya and highlights from her meeting with employees.>
Get the Flash Player to see this content.Vons is one of many divisions of the behemoth Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Ca., where Raya was Senior VP, Main Meal, until last month, when she was named President of the Vons Division. Approaching her 25th anniversary with the company in May, Safeway officials say Raya built her reputation as a seasoned retail executive running store operations in several of Safeway’s key operating divisions, and brings to her new role a unique set of skills having cross-trained at a senior-level, successfully managing large marketing units that together represent nearly half of the company’s business volume.
In her most recent role, Raya had responsibility for the company’s largest portfolio of center-store business units including Ingredients, Beverages and Snacks. She began her career with the Safeway family shortly after college as a clerk in the company’s Denver Division. She progressed through the retail ranks, including assignments at the company’s corporate office, and then as District Manager at Vons and VP, Retail Operations in Safeway’s Northern California Division. In 2009, Raya joined the perishable marketing team as a GVP, Deli/Food Service and Bakery and was promoted to SVP, with added responsibility for Dairy/Refrigerated and Frozen Food, before assuming her previous role in mid-2011.
“Lori’s considerable breadth of experience running major retail units, as well as large perishable and non-perishable marketing functions within the company, make her an excellent fit for the leadership role at Vons,” said Safeway’s Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Burd. “That combined with her exceptional track record of success has positioned her perfectly to run one of our largest operating divisions.”
Vons recently launched a new Just for You online discount program.
Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,681 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $41.1 billion in 2010. The company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.
— By Scott Hettrick
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