Coborn’s hires produce leader as director of produce and floral merchandising
Coborn’s hires produce leader as director of produce and floral merchandising
Coborn’s Inc., a St. Cloud, MN-based retailer with 54 stores, has hired Tom Williams as director of produce and floral merchandising, reporting to Emily Coborn, vice president of fresh merchandising. Williams most recently served as manager of corporate retail produce and floral at SpartanNash Co.
Prior to his role at SpartanNash, Williams spent 35 years in leadership positions with Supervalu northern region, Cub Foods Corporate, H. Brooks & Co., Upper Lakes Foods and Brookshire Grocery Co.
Tom Williams
As director of produce and floral, Williams will develop and lead the implementation of produce and floral merchandising strategies for the company’s various retail divisions, including Coborn’s, Cash Wise, Marketplace Foods and CobornsDelivers. He will be responsible for achieving desired sales and gross profit results, and maximizing produce and floral distribution.
Williams will also be accountable for aggressively leading innovation in the produce and floral departments to create a shopping experience that reflects each retail divisions’ unique brand promises, while consistently reflecting the company’s overall vision of inspiring happiness, healthy living and simplicity for each of its guests.
The company said Williams will be responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships with vendors and suppliers. In this role, he will provide direct supervision to the produce and floral retail supervisors and indirect supervision to department managers.
He holds a bachelor's degree in management from the College of St. Scholastica and currently serves on the retail and foodservice board of directors for United Fresh and is an appointee for the USDA fruit and vegetable advisory committee.
