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Safeway is sending marketing director Roger Ramsden back to the

shop floor in an initiative by chief executive Carlos Criado-Perez to

sharpen the retailing nous of the supermarket’s top directors.

Ramsden will spend five months working as a store manager for one of

Safeway’s flagship stores before returning to headquarters in a senior,

as yet undisclosed, position.

Safeway’s director of brand marketing, Karen Bray, takes over from

Ramsden as director of marketing. Bray, who has been with Safeway since

1993, has overseen advertising, promotions and corporate identity,

taking on the additional remit of relationship marketing earlier this

year.

Ramsden is to spend a month shadowing an area manager before taking on

store manager responsibilities, including managing a team of about 300

people. He said: ’I think it is fair to say that in most major retailers

there is probably more sharp-end experience of retail than at Safeway.

Carlos and I felt we need more retail experience at the centre of what

we do.’

Ramsden has been marketing director for Safeway since last July, when

board-level marketer Roger Partington resigned. He was formerly head of

brand marketing. Before joining Safeway in 1995, he had been a brand

manager for Elida Faberge, and a management consultant.

Criado-Perez, previously a chief operating officer of Wal-Mart, was

hired as chief executive of Safeway last July, replacing Colin Smith,

who was ousted from the company after profits began to fall.

One of his first moves was to put a hold on national TV advertising in

favour of local promotions, ending Safeway’s long-running ’talking

toddlers’ TV campaign.

According to Ramsden, the store management scheme is part of this

attempt to find out how Safeway can compete effectively at a local

level. Other senior managers are expected to follow Ramsden at a later

stage.

In another senior move, Safeway has promoted Matthew Crane to director

of format marketing. He joined Safeway in 1994 and was previously its

account director at promotions agency, Triangle.