SEATTLE, Oct. 26, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- John Runyan, executive advisor to the president and chief executive officer, Unified Grocers(1) (Unified) was honored on Friday, Oct. 19 by his alma mater, Washburn University, in Topeka, Kansas, with the Alumni Fellows Award. The award recognizes Washburn University alumni who have distinguished themselves in their career fields.
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Runyan was recognized by the School of Business for his many career accomplishments and countless contributions to the grocery industry. Each college of the school selects one Fellow per year. Others recognized with Runyan this year included: Michael Manning, partner, Fulbright & Jawarski LLP, Washington D.C. (School of Law), Paul Morrison, attorney general for the state of Kansas (School of Applied Studies), and General Deborah (Moeller) Rose, director, Joint Forces Headquarters-Kansas National Guard (School of Nursing).
Runyan began his distinguished career in the grocery industry at the age of 12 as a clerk and stocker for an independent grocer. He later joined a multi-store IGA retailer, where he gained much firsthand business and management experience. He eventually worked his way through college and graduated from Washburn University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Marketing and Management.
After graduation, he was hired by Fleming Companies, Inc. (Fleming) where he began his ascent to the higher levels of management. Throughout his career with Fleming, Runyan held numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including: sales manager, division president, corporate senior vice president and eventually senior executive officer and group president of Price Impact Retail Stores. Runyan retired from Fleming, a $16 billion company, in Jan. 2001, after 38 years of service with the organization.
On Oct. 3, 2005, Runyan joined Associated Grocers, Inc. (AG) in Seattle, Wash. as president and chief executive officer. In Jan. of 2006, he was elected as vice chairman of the AG Board. Under John's leadership, multiple strategies were implemented which turned the company around and returned value to AG's shareholders, including the sale leaseback of AG's 55 acre Seattle warehouse facility and the eventual sale of the company to Unified Grocers. Following the sale closing on Sept. 30, 2007, Runyan was appointed to his current position with Unified.
"It gives me great pleasure to congratulate John on his Alumni Fellows Award," said Al Plamann, president and chief executive officer, Unified Grocers. "I have seen firsthand John's dedication to his career and his commitment to independent retailers and the industry as a whole. He is a man of integrity with a great deal of enthusiasm for our business. It is a well deserved honor."
Runyan's professional and community service includes serving on the Boards of Directors of Western Association of Food Chains, Western Family Foods, Nietech Corporation and as senior advisor to the president and chief executive officer, BioLargo Technologies, Inc. He also served as senior advisor to the chairman and chief executive officer, IGA, Inc. and on the Board of Directors of the City of Hope, Northern California Food Industry Circle, where he received the Spirit of Life Award, the highest recognition presented by the national board of the City of Hope.
About Unified Grocers, Inc.
Founded in 1922, Unified Grocers, Inc. is a retailer-owned wholesale grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the Western United States. Unified and its subsidiaries, which generated approximately $3 billion in sales during fiscal 2006, offer independent retailers all the resources they need to compete in the supermarket industry.
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(1) As part of an initiative to strengthen its corporate brand and image in the marketplace, Unified Western Grocers recently changed its name and is now doing business as "Unified Grocers." The Company has begun to utilize Unified Grocers as its business name for nearly all purposes and expects to effectuate a legal name change after approval by its shareholders at Unified's next annual meeting in mid-February, 2008.
This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to benefits expected to be derived from the proposed acquisition. There are a variety of factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements above. These factors are outlined in Unified's Form 10-Q and other interim reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Furthermore, Unified undertakes no obligation to update, amend or clarify forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
