Winn-Dixie names Forehand to regional vice president

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Winn-Dixie Stores on Tuesday promoted Cheryl Forehand to regional vice president, where she will oversee the day-to-day and strategic operations of the company’s 135 stores in the Jacksonville region. Forehand has held numerous positions in the company including director of special projects, division manager and most recently vice president of operations.

Last year, she was named as one of 2007’s Top Women in Grocery by Progressive Grocer magazine.

Taking over as vice president of operations will be Shawn Sloan, the company stated, who is being promoted from his post as director of maintenance and energy management. He will work to strengthen the company’s inventory management programs while continuing to improve its hurricane preparedness program, Winn-Dixie said.

And Rich Cline has joined Winn-Dixie as the vice president of operations support from Pamida, located in Omaha, Neb., where he was vice president of store operations. Cline began his career in grocery retail at Jewel-Osco, later moving to Albertsons, and will be responsible for providing leadership to retail support functions and developing cross-functional operations strategies at Winn-Dixie.

Forehand, Sloan, and Cline will report to senior vice president of retail operations Frank Eckstein.

In another personnel move, Mike Istre has been named vice president, maintenance, energy and property management. Istre has held positions throughout the organization including vice president of operations, regional vice president and division president. He will report to group vice president of development Phil Pichulo.