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Jason Potter, the new president and CEO of Grocery Outlet, outlined to investors during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday four strategic priorities “to unlock the tremendous opportunity” he sees in the discount grocer’s business.
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The priorities include improving new store performance, securing top talent, addressing execution gaps, and strengthening opportunistic buying while also becoming a leading selling organization, Potter said.
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Grocery Outlet announced the upcoming retirements of two executive vice presidents: Chief Operations Officer Ramesh Chikkala, who is leaving in June, and Chief Stores Officer Pamela Burke, who departs later this year. The discounter said it is commencing a search for a new store operations leader along with other key management roles.
Potter, who joined Grocery Outlet in February after nearly five years leading The Fresh Market, made his turnaround plan clear to investors who have watched the discounter struggle in recent months with C-suite turnover, ongoing systems disruptions and lackluster value messaging.
The focus, he noted, will be on further differentiating the company while also remaining efficient.
“While we make progress to improve our commercial execution with one foot on the gas, it’s important at this stage of this turnaround, we have one foot on the brake,” Potter said. “We’re being intentional about making meaningful progress on addressing the cost side of this business.”
During his first three months at the helm of Grocery Outlet, Potter said he has sought feedback from more than 50 independent operators who run the discounter’s stores, dozens of suppliers and many customers. The operators, he said, seek more support from the company to improve execution, while the customers asked “for more value with a more consistent experience that helps them complete their weekly shop,” Potter said.
Grocery Outlet is testing a new commercial execution playbook for its new stores to boost year-one sales. It’s also focused on clustering stores in new markets and adding locations to regions where its brand awareness is already high, Potter said.
Testing and learning are a key part of Potter’s strategy. Grocery Outlet has pilot programs planned around new sourcing strategies, labor tools and electricity use. It also plans to test a new store model with more uniform merchandising.
