Fry’s Food Stores Prez Named Retailer of the Year by Ariz. Food Marketing Alliance
Fry’s Food Stores president Jon Flora will be among three industry executives honored by the Phoenix-based Arizona Food Marketing Alliance (AFMA) during its annual Excellence in Leadership Awards banquet to be held Nov. 20, 2009 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel.
Flora will be recognized as the association’s Retailer of the Year; Joe Cotroneo, EVP and GM at Crescent Crown Distributing, will receive Supplier of the Year honors; and Dorothy Finley, formerly the owner of Tucson-based Finley Distributing; will be inducted into the Arizona Food Industry Hall of Fame.
Flora began his career in the grocery industry as a clerk in 1971, and spent his entire 38-year career serving various divisions of the Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. After college, he joined the management-training program and held various leadership positions, including store manager, district manager, VP of operations/Executive Division, VP of merchandising, VP of Kroger’s Southwest Division, and president of Kroger’s Michigan and Great Lakes Divisions.
Before moving to Arizona, he was SVP and officer of Kroger, in which capacity he was responsible for seven of Kroger’s supermarket divisions: Atlanta, Central, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Great Lakes, Mid-South and Southwest -- 1,100 stores out of a total of 2,500 companywide. Fry’s operates 121 grocery stores throughout Arizona.
Cotroneo, who has been in his current role since 2002, has worked in the beverage industry for 22 years. He was chairman of the Beer and Wine Distributors of Arizona in 2008, a director for the Arizona Restaurant Association in 2009, and the Arizona representative for the National Beer Wholesalers Association in 2008-2009. He is currently a member of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance board of directors.
Finley and her husband, Harold, founded Finley Distributing in 1948, expanding operations over time to serve retailers in Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. She is well known for her philanthropic efforts in southern Arizona.
Flora will be recognized as the association’s Retailer of the Year; Joe Cotroneo, EVP and GM at Crescent Crown Distributing, will receive Supplier of the Year honors; and Dorothy Finley, formerly the owner of Tucson-based Finley Distributing; will be inducted into the Arizona Food Industry Hall of Fame.
Flora began his career in the grocery industry as a clerk in 1971, and spent his entire 38-year career serving various divisions of the Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. After college, he joined the management-training program and held various leadership positions, including store manager, district manager, VP of operations/Executive Division, VP of merchandising, VP of Kroger’s Southwest Division, and president of Kroger’s Michigan and Great Lakes Divisions.
Before moving to Arizona, he was SVP and officer of Kroger, in which capacity he was responsible for seven of Kroger’s supermarket divisions: Atlanta, Central, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Great Lakes, Mid-South and Southwest -- 1,100 stores out of a total of 2,500 companywide. Fry’s operates 121 grocery stores throughout Arizona.
Cotroneo, who has been in his current role since 2002, has worked in the beverage industry for 22 years. He was chairman of the Beer and Wine Distributors of Arizona in 2008, a director for the Arizona Restaurant Association in 2009, and the Arizona representative for the National Beer Wholesalers Association in 2008-2009. He is currently a member of the Arizona Food Marketing Alliance board of directors.
Finley and her husband, Harold, founded Finley Distributing in 1948, expanding operations over time to serve retailers in Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. She is well known for her philanthropic efforts in southern Arizona.