Kings Food Markets, Balducci’s promotes executives

On Dec. 19, 2018 Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market announced four internal promotions at the organization. Joseph Parisi has been named COO; Allen Merken VP of Engineering, Real Estate and Construction; Kathe Benjamin VP of Human Resources and Labor Relations and Sharon Bastianelli VP Information Technology.

“At Kings and Balducci’s, we are proud to foster and reward professional growth within the company. Joe, Allen, Kathe and Sharon will continue to lead these two brands into new territory, and we look forward to incorporating their strategic input and direction,” said Judy Spires, Chairman and CEO of Kings and Balducci’s.

Parisi, who began his career at Kings Food Markets as a store manager will lead the operations, engineering and maintenance teams and oversees all new store build-outs as the company continues to grow. Merken will support the company’s growth plans through direct involvement in real estate opportunities, as well as managing all current real estate relationships with landlords, real estate brokers and various community and civic organizations.

Benjamin has held positions as executive secretary, HR administrator, HR manager for home office, HR manager for stores, manager of employee and labor relations and most recently held the position of director of human resources and labor relations, while Bastianelli will drive collaboration between merchandising, operations and all support departments to ensure information systems support strategic needs of the business. She will oversee the retail, network and programming teams.