Fegan to leave Ahold for Winn-Dixie

BRAINTREE, Mass. Ahold USA revealed today that veteran pharmacy executive John Fegan, who heads up all U.S. pharmacy operations for the diverse, Dutch-based supermarket retailer as senior vice president of pharmacy, will leave the company May 23 after 12 years with the company and its Stop & Shop supermarket division.

Fegan told Drug Store News he is leaving to take a position in pharmacy management for Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie Stores. As such, he will oversee operations of some 400 in-store supermarket pharmacies in Winn-Dixie’s five-state operating area, which includes a total of 520 supermarkets in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

The announcement was made internally to company associates today by two Ahold USA executives in a joint statement: Jim Dwyer, executive vice president of strategy and business development; and Don Sussman, executive vice president of merchandising.

“We thank John for his service with us and his contributions over the years,” they noted. “We wish him well in his new career.”

Fegan’s departure has triggered other shifts in management for Ahold’s pharmacy operations, which comprise more than 400 prescription departments within the company’s Stop & Shop and Giant divisions. Replacing him as overall head of the pharmacy organization will be Jim Wonderly, who will continue to oversee procurement. Wonderly most recently was in charge of the general merchandise/health and beauty care departments.

While not a pharmacist, Wonderly was instrumental in the development of a centralized pharmacy buying model for the multi-chain company, “acting as lead negotiator on the last two pharmaceutical wholesaler contracts and managing the pharmacy systems group,” according to Dwyer and Sussman.

Wonderly will report to Dwyer.

Promoted to vice president of pharmacy operations—and reporting to Wonderly—is Joel Berman, an 18-year Stop & Shop pharmacy veteran. Berman will head up pharmacy operations at both Stop & Shop and the Giant-Landover division based in Landover, Md.

To fill the void left by Wonderly’s transition to lead the pharmacy organization, Ahold has promoted Marco Leone to senior director of GM/HBC.

In their announcement to employees, Dwyer and Sussman called the current retail environment “a challenging and competitive time in the pharmacy market,” but noted, “challenges also present opportunity, and we are confident we have the leadership team in place to position our pharmacy business for future success.

“We are facing the challenges of the marketplace by investing in promotions, advertising and pricing as well as building closer ties to our newly reset and VIP-priced HBC section, which launches on May 16,” they added. “We know our customers want the convenience of a pharmacy where they shop for groceries, and at a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, they appreciate not having to make a separate trip.”

Ahold now operates some 560 prescription departments within its more than 700 supermarkets and combo stores. “Pharmacy continues to be an enormously important business for us, and critically important to the long term health of our company,” noted Dwyer and Sussman.