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Progressive Grocer Names Six Food Lion Leaders to 2017 "Top Women in Grocery" List

ADRNY | June 22, 2017

Progressive Grocer Names Six Food Lion Leaders to 2017 "Top Women in Grocery" List

Progressive Grocer magazine has named six Food Lion leaders to its prestigious 2017 Top Women in Grocery, one of the food industry’s highest honors.

Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery award recognizes grocery retail leaders who demonstrate excellence in leadership daily throughout the industry, their stores and the communities where they proudly live and work. The awards honor leaders in various categories. The Food Lion “Rising Star” category winners include:

Christy Phillips-Brown, Director of External Communications and Community Relations
Christy Phillips-Brown oversees public relations, media relations, executive communications, crisis communications and community relations. During her tenure, she has transformed the public relations team to drive more proactive public relations efforts through effective storytelling, led the development of the company's national award-winning philanthropic platform, Food Lion Feeds, as well as created new and innovative brand journalism tools to help position Food Lion positively in the grocery industry.

Heather Siak, Manager, Business Process Change for Food Lion
Heather, who has been with Food Lion for 15 years, is the first point of contact for all business areas to initiate change in our more than 1,000 retail stores. Heather partners across all corporate departments to ensure retail processes are easy, funded and align with regulatory requirements.

Tiffany Whitlock, Front End Implementation and Training Lead/Project Manager for Food Lion
Tiffany Whitlock, who has been with Food Lion for more than 19 years, is the first point of contact for Food Lion's Front End Strategy implementation work. She is responsible for ensuring store leadership teams are well trained to deliver the fastest checkout in the Southeast, and developing a high performing diverse team of specialists that move between multiple markets as Food Lion makes a significant investment (capital, training and productive labor) in our Front End operations.

The “Store Manager” category winners include:

Leslie Johnson, Food Lion Store Manager, Durham, N.C.
Leslie Johnson is the store manager of the Food Lion location on 5279 Roxboro Road in Durham, N.C. Johnson oversees 40 associates. She has nearly seven years of experience with Food Lion. She had an outstanding year in regards to financial performance, which is a direct reflection of her impact on the team she leads at her store. Food Lion recognized Johnson earlier this year for her outstanding store performance, awarding her with a regional Store Manager of the Year award.

Nerissa Johnson, Food Lion Store Manager, Columbia, N.C.
Nerissa Johnson is the store manager of the Food Lion location on 625 US Highway 64 East in Columbia, N.C. Johnson oversees more than 40 associates. She has nearly 27 years of experience with Food Lion and has done many extraordinary things over the past year leading her associates and making sure that her customers are a first priority.

Wendy Thompson, Food Lion Store Manager, Lumberton, N.C.
Wendy Thompson is the store manager of the Food Lion location on 2710 Roberts Avenue in Lumberton, N.C. She oversees 40 associates. She has 22 years of experience working with Food Lion. Thompson is a true leader and this could especially be seen as she led her store and associates to increased sales, responded quickly to community challenges, such as Hurricane Matthew, and contributed heavily to enhancing the overall well-being of her customers and associates. Food Lion recognized Thompson earlier this year for her outstanding store performance awarding her with its overall Store Manager of the Year award.

“We are extremely proud of the excellent leadership and commitment these leaders have exhibited to our customers and associates,” said Greg Finchum, senior vice president of retail operations. “Food Lion appreciates the positive difference they each make everyday."

All six leaders will receive their award on Nov. 9 during a special cocktail dinner celebration at the Westin O'Hare, in Chicago, Ill.

About Food Lion

Food Lion, based in Salisbury, N.C., since 1957, has more than 1,000 stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and employs more than 63,000 associates. By leveraging its longstanding heritage of low prices and convenient locations, Food Lion is working to own the easiest full shop grocery experience in the Southeast, anchored by a strong commitment to affordability, freshness and the communities it serves. Through Food Lion Feeds, the company has committed to provide 500 million meals to individuals and families in need by the end of 2020. Food Lion is a company of Delhaize America, a U.S. division of Zaandam-based Royal Ahold Delhaize Group. For more information, visit www.foodlion.com.