Leadership Changes at Food Lion

Food Lion Executive Vice President of Merchandising Geoff Waldau will retire on June 6^th after nearly 39 years with the company, marking a leadership change across the grocery chain’s merchandising and pricing operations. Waldau has spent the last 11 years overseeing Category, Merchandising and Pricing functions at Food Lion, where he has directed work tied to product assortment across more than 1,100 stores in the company’s 10 state operating area. His responsibilities also included oversight of the pharmacy business. 

Food Lion operates supermarkets built around a standardized layout, with produce sections, meat and seafood counters, dairy cases, and packaged grocery aisles arranged to support frequent shopping trips. Merchandising decisions from Waldau’s division have influenced how those departments are stocked and updated across the chain, including pricing structure and category selection. Waldau’s teams contributed to changes in assortment tied to remodels and new store openings, as well as adjustments to omnichannel shopping services.

Food Lion has continued to expand digital ordering and pickup options alongside in store operations, with merchandising strategy aligned to both physical shelves and online inventory systems. Waldau has also overseen sustainability related category initiatives within merchandising, focusing on sourcing and assortment standards used in product selection. These efforts sit within broader corporate supply chain and procurement practices at parent company Ahold Delhaize.

Following his retirement, Food Lion has named Gene Faller as Executive Vice President of Merchandising, effective June 7^th. Faller currently serves as Senior Vice President of Center Store Category Management, where he has worked on category strategy and pricing approaches for key grocery segments. Faller’s background spans multiple roles within Food Lion since joining the company in 1988, beginning in store level retail before moving into category management, pricing, private brands, and regional operations leadership. He also held a role at Bottom Dollar Food in retail operations. In his new position, Faller will oversee merchandising, assortment, pricing, and the pharmacy business, continuing oversight of product selection and store level category structure across the chain’s footprint of more than 1,100 locations.

Food Lion’s store operations are expected to continue without immediate changes tied to the leadership transition, with merchandising systems and pricing frameworks managed through established category planning processes.