Business Quarry: Coborn’s adds 3 executives

Feb. 28--Coborn's Inc. added three top executives, adding two new positions and bringing in outside expertise in a move designed to give the company more exposure to what's happening in the grocery industry elsewhere in the state and the country.

All three will sit on the company's operating committee.

Thomas Velin will be the new chief financial officer, starting work on Monday and replacing Pam Osborn, who left the position at the end of the year.

Also starting on Monday will be Dale Monson, who will inaugurate the role of vice president of information technology.

And Greg Sandeno, who has been CEO of a chain of 75 grocery stores and pharmacies in Oregon, will begin duties March 10 as Coborn's first executive vice president of sales.

CEO Chris Coborn said the new positions were necessary because "business keeps growing and our landscape keeps evolving."

Velin most recently was CFO and senior vice president at Experian Health Care in Minneapolis. He also had stints as CFO at four other Twin Cities area companies, though his grocery-related experience came in the mid-1990s when he was CFO and assistant secretary at Mendota Heights-based Lloyd's Barbecue Co.

Monson has 25 years of technology experience, including 17 in e-commerce. He was senior vice president and chief information officer the past two years at Oriental Trading Inc. in Omaha, Neb. Before that, he worked 15 years for The Sportsman's Guide Inc. in St. Paul.

Sandeno will oversee marketing, merchandising, supermarket sales and fresh foods departments. He comes from the top position at C&K Market Inc. in Brookings, Ore. He previously held leadership roles with Nash Finch Co. and the Fred Meyer division of Kroger.

"Shoppers are changing their habits -- more focused on fresh and making more trips for a smaller number of items to the stores each month," Coborn's spokesperson Rebecca Kurowski said. "Behaviors are shifting and the same-old same-old approach isn't going to cut it. We've got some good people who have been with us a long time but we felt the need to get some outside exposure to what others are doing in the industry. And we think this is a powerhouse group ... we've been trying to fill these roles for a half a year now. We were fussy on the fit and values for each person because our company is more philanthropic than others and we wanted to make sure they fit with us as much as we think we have a need for them."

Velin, Monson and Sandeno will join a Coborn's operating committee that includes Coborn, Vice President of Marketing Dennis Host, Vice President of Organizational Development Becky Estby, Senior Vice President of Sales and Merchandising Andy Knoblauch, District Manager Emily Coborn, and Chief Operating Officer Bob Thueringer, who is retiring at the end of June.

Three other vice presidents already have assumed some of Thueringer's responsibilities, and they're on the operating committee, too. They include: Rick Parker, who oversees Cash Wise stores; Bruce Miller, who oversees Coborn's stores; and Dave Meyer, who oversees the specialty shops -- including liquor stores and convenience stores.

Coborn's, which is based in St. Cloud and owned by its 7,400 employees, has 48 grocery stores acrossthe upper Midwest. For more, visit www.coborns.com.

Land near Crossroads sold

According to the Minnesota Commercial Association of Realtors, a $3.5 million transaction closed during the fourth quarter on a property near Crossroads Center. The 7,600-square-foot retail space at 4101 West Division St., now the site of the Mattress Firm and Vitamin Shoppe stores, was bought by The Philipose Group LLC from Joplin Crossroad LLC.

No brokers were involved. The Philipose Group is registered in East Meadow, N.Y. Joplin Crossroad is registered in St. Paul.

Another notable fourth-quarter transaction in the area involved 19,000 square feet of retail space at 2077 and 2103 Frontage Road in Waite Park. Riverwood Mall LLC bought the property for more than $1.3 million from Honer Homes Inc. Again, no brokers were involved.

Other sales of interest in the area included the former Apollo Insurance building, for $630,000, to Falcon Building LLC. An 8,700-square-foot retail space at 13 First Ave. N in Waite Park sold for $610,000 to Blue Sky Coast LLC.

To see more fourth-quarter transactions, visit http://www.mncar.org.

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