Food and drug retailer Safeway Inc. (SWY) said Monday that it has appointed Robert Edwards, currently the company's president, as chief executive officer. He succeeds Steven Burd, who retires as chairman and CEO on May 14, after 20 years at the helm.
Edwards, aged 57, will also join Safeway's board of directors. Gary Rogers, currently the company's lead independent director, will become non-executive chairman upon Burd's retirement.
Commenting on Edwards' appointment, Rogers said, "The Board undertook a thorough search and concluded that Robert is the best candidate to lead Safeway. He has the talent and experience that give the Board confidence that he will be a successful CEO."
Safeway said in early January that long-time chairman and CEO Burd will retire as CEO and a director at the company's annual stockholders meeting on May 14. Burd joined Safeway in October 1992 as President and was appointed CEO in May of the following year.
Burd is credited with establishing a culture of thrift and capital discipline in Safeway, creating a customer service program, developing the "Lifestyle" store format, introducing a level of quality in perishable products that had never been seen in food retailing, and forming a leading prepaid payment network that has become one of the largest distributors of gift cards in the world.
Burd also accelerated the company's efforts in charitable giving and sustainability. During his tenure, Safeway raised more than $2 billion for charities, including over $200 million for cancer research.
The incoming CEO, Edwards, joined Safeway as executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2004. In April 2012, he was named president, with overall responsibility for the company's retail operations, marketing, merchandising, corporate brands, manufacturing, distribution and finance functions. He continued as CFO until Peter Bocian succeeded him in that role in February 2013.
Prior to joining Safeway, Edwards served as a senior executive at Maxtor Corporation, Imation Corporation and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation. He serves as a director on KKR Financial Holdings, LLC and on Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Safeway.
The incoming chairman, Rogers, aged 70, has been a member of the company's board of directors since March 2011. He is the former chairman and CEO of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc., where he led the development of the nation's largest ice cream company from 1977 to 2007. He later served as non-executive chairman of Levi Strauss & Co. and of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Last Thursday, Safeway reported a 63 percent surge in profit for the first quarter as results were aided by a tax benefit. The company's first-quarter net income was $118.9 million or $0.49 per share, up from $72.9 million or $0.27 per share in the year-ago period. However, sales and other revenue edged down to $9.99 billion from $10.00 billion in the year-ago period.
SWY closed Monday's trading at $23.51, up $0.20 or 0.86 percent on a volume of 10.41 million shares. In after-hours, the stock further gained $0.03 or 0.13 percent to $23.54.
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