deliver on those strengths and opportuni - ties,” Stigers said. “How do we continue to be the best Wakefern going forward, to be the best ShopRite, the best Price Rite, the best Fresh Grocer, the best Fairway and Gourmet Garage, and all of our other retail brands. “I firmly believe that the more work that we all could do collaboratively and speak with one voice, the better off we are,” he said.
That led Stigers to solidify all of the company’s customer-facing businesses, including ecommerce, as well as its supplier partnerships, merchandising, marketing and communications, to present a more focused message. “We brought them in under one team led by one leader so we could truly enhance each of our individual offerings so we can meet our customers where they are and where they need to shop with us that day,”
ShopRite, Wakefern Food Corp.’s flagship banner, operates more than 300 stores across the Northeast, combining cooperative buying power with local ownership and community focus.
community, and that’s what’s so exciting,” said Mike Stigers, president of Wakefern, in an interview with Supermarket News . ShopRite, which is also celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is Wakefern’s flagship banner with 276 stores that are owned and operated by both co-op member companies by Wakefern itself through its ShopRite Stores division. Other stores in its retail network include 53 Price Rite Marketplace locations, 23 The Fresh Grocer stores, 17 Morton Williams stores, four Fairway Markets, three Gourmet Garage stores, two Di Bruno Bros. locations and one Dearborn Market. The company also serves wholesale business clients and other independent retailers. Last year Wakefern reported retail sales of $20.7 billion for the 52-week fiscal year ending Sept. 27, 2025, a 3.1% increase from the prior year. Stigers, who joined Wakefern in 2023 after a long career in retailing and whole- saling, saw the opportunity to ensure a more unified voice among the company’s diverse banners. He brought in Darren Caudill as chief sales officer, a newly cre- ated position to spearhead those efforts. “One of the first things that I did when I joined the cooperative was to try to understand our strengths, to understand where some opportunities are, and how we
Stigers said. “Whether it’s online, whether it’s pickup or delivery or they’re coming in to visit a store, we want to be there for them, and we want that to be a very con- sistent experience.” A neighborhood-by- neighborhood approach Key to Wakefern’s longstanding suc- cess has been the flow of feedback that begins at the individual stores and travels upstream to the corporate level, allowing trends in shopper behavior and prefer- ences to quickly translate into action. “Each owner has an opportunity to merchandise the store based on local demands and local demographics, and the big chains just can’t do that to the degree that ShopRite can,” said Mathew Casey, president of Colonia, N.J.-based real estate consulting firm Matthew P. Casey & Asso- ciates and a former real estate manager at Wakefern. Caudill agreed that the company’s focus on listening to its individual members has long given the company a competitive advantage. “Our members are working in their stores every day, and they bring us those customer insights that really allow us to be in tune with the needs of each individ- ual neighborhood we serve,” said Caudill.
The Fresh Grocer represents Wakefern’s com - mitment to format diversity and urban retail, providing neighborhoods with access to fresh produce, quality groceries and personalized service.
Wakefern’s investment in employee train - ing and development ensures that store associates deliver the high-quality shopping experience that has become a hallmark of the cooperative’s banners.
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