Source: Grocery Dive
Could the third time be the charm for The Raley’s Companies’ new leader?
Mike Teel, whom the grocery company named as its CEO earlier this week, has served as chief executive for Raley’s on two separate occasions. The first came in 1998, after he’d spent several years rising through the company’s senior leadership ranks. Teel, the grandson of Raley’s founder Tom Raley, left the grocer in 2002 to pursue different business interests before returning in 2010 as president and CEO. In 2018, he handed over the chief executive reins to Keith Knopf, who he is now replacing.
It’s unclear what led Teel to take back over the company that now oversees not just Raley’s but also the Bashas’ chain, which it acquired in late 2021. But it could certainly use a bit more pep in its step. In the years leading up to the Bashas’ acquisition, Raley’s made several innovative moves, including launching two new store formats called Market 5-One-5 and O-N-E Market and setting leading nutrition and sustainability standards for its products. Since the merger, though, The Raley’s Companies hasn’t announced any groundbreaking new initiatives or growth plans for either chain. Raley’snow operates 117 stores, according to its website, seven fewer than it operated at the time of the Bashas’ acquisition.