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Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: MICHAEL SEVER

Sever, a longtime Hershey employee, was named plant manager of the candymaker’s Stuarts Draft manufacturing facility last year. He had previously worked at the facility, which produces nut-based candies like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Almond Joy, as its site operations leader. The plant, which opened in 1982, is the second largest of Hershey’s seven manufacturing sites.

Sever’s 20-year career with the Fortune 500 company has taken him to China and included time as a plant manager in Hershey’s Lancaster, Pennsylvania, facility. In 2018, Sever left Hershey to become vice president of U.S. operations for educational travel company WorldStrides and to start a small-batch confection company, Wild Blue Chocolate, with his wife, Jessie. He then held management roles at food and beverage companies Danone and Kerry’s locations in Virginia before coming back to Hershey in 2022.

Sever became plant manager during a movement to unionize the facility, which failed after 79% of the plant’s workers voted against organizing in March 2022.

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: CHARLES E. TYSON

This year started out slower for LL Flooring, with sales declining by 13.7% — from $279 million in the first quarter of 2022 to $240.7 million in the same quarter this year. Tyson, who has headed the flooring company formerly known as Lumber Liquidators since 2020, said during an earnings call that the period has been “challenging,” due to the inflationary economy’s dampening effect on home improvement spending, especially coming after a busy 2022 during which LL Flooring opened 18 stores. LL Flooring is piloting a carpet section in four stores that will expand in response to customer demand, he added. The company now has 442 stores, 4,500 employees and annual revenue of $1.15 billion.

In June, the company’s board rejected an unsolicited acquisition proposal from Cabinets To Go, a subsidiary of F9 Brands.

Tyson joined LL Flooring in 2018 as chief customer experience officer after spending nine years at Advance Auto Parts, where he worked his way up to executive vice president of merchandising, marketing and supply chain. He previously held senior positions at OfficeMax and Office Depot and was president of Diversitech Group Manufacturing.

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: WILLIAM G. ‘BILL’ CRUTCHFIELD JR.

At age 15, Crutchfield founded what would eventually become his electronics retail business by installing hi-fi sound systems in Charlottesville-area homes. Today,
his privately held corporation has 750 employees
in Virginia and brought in $460 million in revenues
in 2022.

After launching his first mail-order catalog in 1974, Crutchfield grew the business into a major online retailer that now sells customers everything from TVs to drones. The company pledges free lifetime technical support on any gear it sells.

Crutchfield was inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame in 2007.

A University of Virginia graduate, Crutchfield is a U.S. Air Force veteran, having served as commander of a Titan II missile crew and as a Strategic Air Command instructor. He was twice awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal. The son of a neurosurgeon who founded U.Va.’s neurosurgery department, Crutchfield was an early supporter of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation in Charlottesville.

HOBBY/PASSION: Flying airplanes, operating my boat, repairing my classic cars, installing complex electronics in my homes and trying unsuccessfully to train our four dachshunds

MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “Simply Lies: A Psychological Thriller,” by David Baldacci

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: SHANE SMITH

Smith became CEO of Smithfield Foods in 2021, just as Smithfield, the world’s largest pork product manufacturer and hog producer, said it would end slaughter operations in its hometown of Smithfield, the country’s self-proclaimed  “ham capital.”

Now, Smith is trying to navigate tricky financial waters as conservative politicians have been talking tough about Chinese holdings in the U.S. Smithfield was acquired in 2013 by Hong Kong-based WH Group, a situation that has flared into controversy due to legislators’ concern over potential Chinese ownership of U.S. agriculture land and control of U.S. pork production. Smith has responded that WH Group’s ownership has benefited the U.S. by helping Smithfield hire more American workers. It now employs 40,000 U.S. workers, some 37,000 more than a decade ago.

Although Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed legislation this year that lets the state declare “void” any purchase of farmland by a “foreign government or nongovernment person” considered a U.S. adversary, Youngkin’s office said that Smithfield Foods is not impacted.

A graduate of the University of Mount Olive and William & Mary, Smith started his career at Smithfield in 2003 as a financial analyst.

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: STEVE PRESLEY

Presley is now in his second year of leading the Swiss food producer’s North American zone and sitting on the company’s executive board. Prior to Nestlé’s 2022 reorganization, he was head of its U.S. division and oversaw the sale of Nestlé’s confections business and the acquisitions of Starbucks’ packaged goods business and Essentia water. In November 2022, Nestlé sold its Gateway infant formula plant in Wisconsin and U.S. and Canadian rights to the Gerber Good Start formula brand to Perrigo.

In July, Presley said he expected to pause price increases on products sold in North America, after having raised prices by 12.4% year over year amid inflation. In 2022, Nestlé posted sales of $28.56 billion in North America, with organic growth of 10.3%. Globally, the company posted $98.93 billion in revenue last year.

In July, Nestlé subsidiary Purina completed its $182 million expansion at its King William County plant, adding 138,000 square feet that includes a new technical training center.

A graduate of the University of South Florida, Presley has been with the company for 25 years, beginning as a controller for a Nestlé beverage factory in Suffolk in 1997.

Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: RICK DREILING

It’s been a wild ride at the discount retailer this past year, with a shakeup in Dollar Tree’s C-suite toppling much of its top brass.

Mike Witynski, who had held leadership roles at Dollar Tree since 2010 and was CEO of the Fortune 500 discount retailer since 2020, left in January. He played a key role in the company’s acquisition of the Family Dollar chain and Dollar Tree’s controversial price hike from $1 to $1.25 for most items in 2022.

Dreiling, the board’s executive chairman, stepped in as CEO after Witynski left. And he’s certainly qualified, having served as CEO for Dollar General, the main competitor to Dollar Tree, from 2008 to 2015. Dreiling became executive chairman of Dollar Tree in March 2022, following a proxy battle with an activist investor group. That summer, the company began a monthslong leadership overhaul.

Dreiling serves as lead independent director on Lowe’s board and has also served as president and CEO of pharmacy and convenience store chain Duane Reade.

For fiscal 2022, Dollar Tree reported $28.32 billion in net sales. Dollar Tree operates more than 16,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores and employs more than 200,000 people. It ranked No. 144 on this year’s Fortune 500 list.

Lidl US chief to leave, reports say

Updated Aug. 7, 2023

The president and CEO of Lidl US, the Arlington-based United States branch of the German grocery chain, is set to leave the post at the end of August, according to reports in German and U.S. trade publications citing an internal memo.

Michal Lagunionek, Lidl’s U.S. president and CEO since 2021, will be replaced by Joel Rampoldt, a Miami-based retail and wholesaler consultant who is new to the company, reported Grocery Dive and Lebensmittel Zeitung on July 24.

On Monday, Lidl confirmed Rampoldt’s hiring in a statement. “As of September, Joel Rampoldt will be responsible for Lidl’s U.S. market as chief executive officer. Joel has many years of extensive retail expertise and has worked at AlixPartners, a global consulting company, as a partner and managing director, and at KPMG.” He will be based in Arlington.

Lagunionek was the fourth U.S. chief executive since the German discount grocery chain established its headquarters in Arlington in 2017. He succeeded Johannes Fieber in June 2021, and like the other Lidl US CEOs, Lagunionek was an internal hire, previously serving as CEO of Lidl’s Poland division and a member of the board of Lidl International. A native of Poland, Lagunionek will leave in late August and take a sabbatical, with plans to return to Europe, according to the publications.

The hiring of Rampoldt, however, implies that the retailer is taking a different tack in U.S. leadership.

The shift in leadership comes during a reorganization of Lidl’s headquarters and the closing of some stores and openings of others. In February, Lidl laid off about 200 workers at its headquarters and in July closed 11 stores in the U.S., including two in Charlottesville and Henrico County. A spokesperson said the closed stores were underperforming. Lidl has about 170 stores in the United States, and more than 12,000 worldwide. However, the chain is opening stores in other locations, including one in Lorton late last month, and a Leesburg store was just approved by the Leesburg Planning Commission.

Lidl is owned by German retail company Schwarz Group, which recorded a 13.8% increase in sales last year to about $126.3 million, but outside Germany, the chain had mixed results, with sales increasing by 7.1%, well below the European food inflation rate of 15%. The parent company did not disclose its profit figures or sales for its U.S. stores, but the quickly changing leadership and store closures indicate challenges.

The first American to lead the division, Rampoldt comes from consulting firm AlixPartners, where he is partner and managing director. Rampoldt was previously a principal at KPMG; a partner and co-head of North American retail and consumer practice at consulting firm Oliver Wyman; a manager at Digitas; and a manager at AT&T, according to his LinkedIn page. Rampoldt is a graduate of Georgia State University and the Yale School of Management.

 

Plans revealed for second Buc-ee’s Va. location

Buc-ee’s appears to be planning its second Virginia location, this time along Interstate 81 in Rockingham County near Mt. Crawford.

According to a post on the county’s Facebook page, Buc-ee’s, the Texas-sized travel center chain, has applied for a special use permit for review and approval of a proposed sign plan. The Texas-based retailer is planning a 74,000-square-foot store with 120 fueling positions and 24 electric vehicle charging stations, with a projected opening in 2025.

New Kent County’s economic development department revealed Buc-ee’s plans for a center along I-64 when it posted to its Facebook page in march that the chain filed for a conditional use permit for signage. Buc-ee’s New Kent LLC purchased 27.686 acres located at Exit 211 off Interstate 64 from Kent Farms Holdings Company, LLC for $6.5 million. Completion of that sale was announced in June. Once complete, it could be among the company’s largest locations.

The Buc-ee’s chain has opened more than 25 locations throughout the South in the past two decades. The Rockingham and New Kent locations are among four the company says it has planned in the state.

Five Guys moving HQ to Alexandria

Five Guys Enterprises LLC is moving its corporate headquarters from southern Fairfax County to Alexandria this month, a spokesperson confirmed Friday. The new main office for the family-owned hamburger chain will be in leased space at 1940 Duke St., starting July 17.

Friday was the company’s last day at its Lorton headquarters at 10718 Richmond Highway, which Five Guys leased in 2012. The new headquarters, with 39,673 square feet, will be on the fifth floor of the 220,000-square-foot Carlyle Crescent building. The building is owned by I&G Direct Real Estate 25 LP and is assessed at $59.8 million, according to Alexandria property records. JLL handles leasing for the building.

Five Guys was founded in 1986 by CEO Jerry Murrell, whose five sons joined the business, which started with a single burger shop in Arlington. After 27 years of regional success, Five Guys began offering franchises in 2003, and in less than two years, the company sold more than 300 franchises. Today, there are approximately 1,700 Five Guys locations worldwide with 20,000 employees. According to the company, there are approximately 600 employees in Virginia.

 

Buc-ee’s to open in New Kent by 2025

It’s official. Buc-ee’s, the Texas-size travel center chain, completed its purchase of property in New Kent County and will open its first Virginia location in the next two years, with three more slated across the state, S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. said in a news release.

A groundbreaking date for the New Kent site has not been set because the company is finalizing its building plans, said Nathan Shor, a senior vice president with S.L. Nusbaum Realty and exclusive tenant representative for Buc-ee’s in Virginia. Shor, who represented the seller in the transaction, would not say where Buc-ee’s is planning to locate its additional locations in the commonwealth.

Buc-ee’s New Kent LLC purchased 27.686 acres located at Exit 211 off Interstate 64 from Kent Farms Holdings Company, LLC for $6,506,210. The property will be constructed as a Buc-ee’s Super Center and include more than 75,000 square feet of retail space, 120 fueling positions, multiple electric vehicle chargers and parking for more than 650 vehicles, including bus and RV parking.

New Kent County’s Economic Development Department announced in March on its Facebook page that Buc-ee’s, the Texas-based retailer that bills itself as having the cleanest restrooms in America and the “friendliest beaver” mascot, had filed a conditional use permit with the county Planning and Zoning Department, generating hundreds of comments and thousands of shares.

At more than 75,000 square feet, the new Buc-ee’s location will be among the company’s largest. While the Buc-ee’s website says that its New Braunfels, Texas, location is the largest convenience store in the world at 66,335 square feet, that site is being dethroned by a 74,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s under construction in Sevierville, Tennessee, according to CBS affiliate television station WVLT. It appears the New Kent location could top the Tennessee Buc-ee’s.

The Buc-ee’s chain has opened more than 25 locations throughout the South in the past two decades.