Unified Grocers Names New CFO

Unified Grocers has promoted Christine Neal to EVP, CFO and treasurer. She succeeds current EVP and CFO Michael Henn, who is retiring Sept. 30.

Henn joined the company last year as CFO, succeeding Richard Martin, who has also retired.

“It’s been a privilege to work with a great management team that has accomplished so much in the past year to position the company for solid growth going forward,” Henn said. “While personal circumstances have driven my decision to step back from a full-time role, I will continue to assist the company in a more limited capacity as it transitions to new financial leadership.”

Neal, who joined Unified in 2003, is deferring her own retirement to become CFO as the Commerce, Calif.-based wholesaler begins a search process for the CFO position.

“Christine is a very talented executive with a strong track record of leadership in finance and strategy, and excellent knowledge of our company,” said Bob Ling, president and CEO. “In addition to her proven financial management skills, she has been a key driver of the company’s new strategic plan, which we expect to finalize soon.”

In her new role, Neal is responsible for finance, accounting, information systems, internal audit and strategic planning as well as being the president of Grocers Capital Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Unified.