Allegiance Retail Services Appoints Interim President

After eight years in his current role, Allegiance Retail Services President and COO John Derderian has decided to reduce his responsibilities and transition to the part-time role of principal advisor for retail development and strategic business initiatives for the retailer cooperative, beginning Oct. 1. Allegiance Chairman and CEO Lou Scaduto and the board of directors unanimously accepted this reduction in responsibilities, appointing VP and CFO Joe Fantozzi interim president.

“We thank John for his years of service and profound accomplishments to successfully position Allegiance to continue to grow both membership and market share into the future,” noted Scaduto. “The board and I are very comfortable with naming Joe Fantozzi as interim president. His six years with Allegiance have been marked by improvements in all aspects of the business units he is currently responsible for, and his advocacy on behalf of the membership and understanding of the business is first-rate.”

[Read more: “Allegiance Retail Services Adds 3 New Stores”]

Scaduto will empanel a subcommittee of the board to conduct a search for a permanent replacement, which is expected to wrap up by the end of this year.  

Iselin, N.J.-based Allegiance provides independent supermarkets such as Foodtown, Freshtown, D’Agostino, Gristedes, Pathmark, LaBella Marketplace, Brooklyn Harvest, Market Fresh, Morton Williams, Big Deal Food Market, Green Way Markets and Shop n Bag with marketing, advertising, technological and merchandising support, as well as a full line of private label products.