Northeast Grocery Promotes John Persons to COO
Northeast Grocery Inc. (NGI), the parent company of Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets LLC, has named Tops President John Persons its COO. In his new role, Persons will oversee both the Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets operating companies, as well as the merchandising and marketing functions of Northeast Shared Services, a subsidiary of NGI providing services to both operating companies. He will report directly to NGI CEO Frank Curci. Ron Ferri, a 34-year Tops veteran, will succeed Persons as Tops president.
During Persons’ 39 years at Tops, he has overseen such functions as operations, merchandising, sales and marketing, real estate, information technology, and organizational strategy, culminating in his appointment as president in 2015.
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Ferri, who had previously been EVP, operations and distribution at Tops since 2016, began his career at the company as a produce clerk in 1989 and has held many store-level and executive management positions over the ensuing years.
Additionally, Mike Miller has become chief administrative officer (CAO), after previous stints as SVP, human resources and EVP, human resources and administration at Northeast Shared Services. In his new role, Miller will lead the human resources, legal, government affairs, corporate communications, public relations and risk management functions, as well as guiding merger integration.
“Promoting John to COO and Mike to CAO fills out our executive leadership team and bolsters our experience and expertise in many of the functional areas that continue to contribute to our combined company’s growth,” noted Curci. “I’m confident that our executive team, which also includes [CFO] Dave Langless, [CIO] Scott Kessler, [Price Chopper/Market 32 President] Blaine Bringhurst, and [new Tops President] Ron Ferri, is equipped to provide us with cutting-edge leadership.”
Mike Patti, who has been promoted to succeed Ferri as SVP, operations for Tops, has a 50-year history with the company, where his previous role was regional VP for the West region stores. Jim Gibson, who will succeed Patti in that role, and John McCaffrey, the regional VP for Tops’ East region, will both report to Patti.
Based in Schenectady, N.Y., NGI is the parent company of Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets LLC, which collectively operate nearly 300 supermarkets across New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire and employ more than 30,000 associates/teammates. NGI is No. 45 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
