Tops Markets’ President John Persons promoted to COO at Northeast Grocery Inc., while Ron Ferri becomes Tops’ President. Mike Miller appointed as CAO.

Tops Markets LLC President John Persons has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer at Northeast Grocery Inc. (NGI), the parent business of both Tops Markets LLC and Price Chopper/Market 32. Persons’ new responsibilities include managing NGI’s two grocery store chains (Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets) and the merchandising and marketing departments at Northeast Shared Services. His immediate superior will be NGI CEO Frank Curci. Tops has promoted Ron Ferri, a 34-year veteran of the company, to the position of president.

Over the course of his 39 years at Tops, Persons has held positions of increasing responsibility in operations, merchandising, sales and marketing, real estate, IT, and organizational planning before being named president in 2015.

Starting as a produce clerk in 1989, Ferri has worked his way up through the ranks at Tops to become executive Vice President of operations and distribution since 2016.

Mike Miller, formerly the senior vice president of human resources and the executive vice president of human resources and administration at Northeast Shared Services, has been promoted to the position of chief administrative officer (CAO). Miller’s new responsibilities include overseeing merger integration as well as human resources, legal, government affairs, corporate communications, public relations, and risk management.

John’s new role as COO and Mike’s new role as CAO “complete our executive leadership team and strengthen our experience and expertise in many of the functional areas that continue to contribute to the growth of our combined company,” as Curci put it. I have full faith in our management team to steer us in the right direction, which includes [CFO] Dave Langless, [CIO] Scott Kessler, [Price Chopper/Market 32 President] Blaine Bringhurst, and [new Tops President] Ron Ferri.

Mike Patti, Ferri’s successor as Tops’ senior vice president of operations, has been with the firm for 50 years and was most recently the vice president of the West region’s shops. Patti will be responsible for the work of his successor, Jim Gibson, and for that of John McCaffrey, regional vice president for Tops’ East region.

NGI, with headquarters in Schenectady, New York, is the parent company of grocery chains Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets LLC, which together have approximately 300 locations in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire and employ more than 30,000 people. In 2023, NGI ranked 45th among the top food and consumer goods retailers in North America on The PG 100, compiled by Progressive Grocer.

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