Shakeup at Supervalu's Cub Foods: President leaves, search for new leader begins

Eric Hymas, a senior Supervalu Inc. executive who led Cub Foods for the past year, is leaving the company.

Hymas became president of Cub, the leading grocery-store chain in the Twin Cities and the largest grocery unit of Supervalu, in January 2016.

He led the company's Shop 'n Save chain for nearly three years before that and was previously senior vice president for merchandising for all Supervalu units.

Chad Ferguson, Supervalu's vice president of marketing and consumer insights, will take the lead of Cub on an interim basis.

He joined Supervalu in 2013 after more than 20 years at Kroger. Since joining Supervalu, he has also been interim president at Farm Fresh in 2013 and Shop 'n Save in 2015.

"Chad is a dynamic leader with a wealth of experience and I'm very pleased he will be stepping in to lead Cub," Anne Dament, senior vice president of retail, merchandising, and marketing at Supervalu, said in a statement. "We appreciate Eric's many contributions to Cub and Supervalu over the years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Dament left Target after 18 months as its grocery chief to join Supervalu in January. Supervalu's four retailers, including Cub, have faced intense competition across the country, Bruce Besanko, the company's chief financial officer, said in January. "We are unhappy with our retail performance," he said during an earnings call.

In the Twin Cities, Cub is facing unprecedented competition not only from Target, Wal-Mart and Aldi but also new-to-the-market Hy-Vee and Fresh Thyme.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633