Restructuring to affect Hannaford, jobs
Delhaize Group, parent company to Scarborough-based Hannaford Bros. Co., is launching a major restructuring plan that will affect the company's Maine employees.
The Belgium-based company today announced it will consolidate and streamline support services for its U.S. food retailers, including Hannaford, effective Feb. 1, according to a press release from Delhaize. Shared corporate services, such as IT, finance and accounting, and human resources, for all of Delhaize's six retail chains will be consolidated to eliminate redundancies. While no retail Hannaford locations will be affected, the restructuring will mean changes for the 700-750 employees at Hannaford's corporate office, Michael Norton, director of communications, told Mainebiz. Human resources for Delhaize America will be consolidated in Scarborough, while finance and accounting will be consolidated in Delhaize's office in Salisbury, N.C. Hannaford is Maine's largest private employer.
No layoffs have been immediately announced, but the changes will likely mean fewer jobs in the long term, he said. "Clearly there will be a change, clearly there will be efficiencies, but to treat it as an immediate X number of layoffs is not really the nature of this announcement," he said. "We will have fewer positions doing certain functions." Norton said the changes will help the company grow. "There are real powerful business aspirations behind making these changes," he said. "We can perform better and do more."
As part of the restructuring, Hannaford President Ron Hodge has been named CEO of Delhaize America Operations and will manage operations for all of Delhaize's retail companies. Delhaize owns Food Lion, Harveys, Reid's, Bloom, Bottom Dollar Food and Sweetbay. Executive Vice President Beth Newlands Campbell has been named Hannaford's new president.
The announcement comes on the heels of a 10% fourth quarter overall revenue drop for Delhaize, with U.S. sales slipping 8.5%, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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