Thrifty Hires Lucky’s William E. Yingling III
William E. Yingling III, the retailer who presided over Lucky supermarkets’ steady growth in Southern California during the past five years, on Tuesday was named chairman and chief executive of ailing Thrifty Corp.
Yingling, 47, faces the task of turning around an organization with more than 1,000 stores that posted an after-tax operating loss of $64 million last year. Industry observers say the company has also recently suffered from internal upheaval at its biggest division, Thrifty Drug, the Southland’s No. 1 drugstore chain.
Still, Yingling’s appointment came as a surprise to many in the retail industry--including Lucky officials. As chief executive he will replace Daniel A. Seigel, who was named to that post less than seven months ago as part of a series of high-level executive changes.
Seigel will stay on as president of Los Angeles-based Thrifty Corp. In that role, he will report directly to Yingling and will supervise the company’s sporting goods chains, including Big 5, and two of its three drugstore chains.
Also reporting directly to Yingling is Eve A. Rich, who was named to the new post of president of Thrifty Drug in November, after heading the fashion retailer Contempo Casuals.
A Thrifty spokesman said the company had been looking quietly in recent months for a new chairman to replace Leonard H. Straus, who retired in May. When talks with Yingling began, “it became clear to all that to get someone of his stature, we needed to offer the CEO job as well as the chairmanship, and Seigel was in accord with that,” said the spokesman, Henry E. Spier.
During the five years that Yingling was president of the Southern California division of Lucky Stores, the unit grew slowly but consistently to edge out Ralphs as the Southland’s No. 2 supermarket chain. According to figures from the Los Angeles Times marketing research department, the percentage of households in Los Angeles and Orange counties that consider Lucky their primary supermarket rose from 14.5% in 1986 to 18.2% last year, second only to Vons’ 21% ranking.
Yingling was expected to head a proposed merged Lucky-Alpha Beta supermarket operation but lost out on the chance when the California attorney general’s office forced the owner of the two chains to sell Alpha Beta this year to settle antitrust allegations.
In an interview, Yingling acknowledged that he was disappointed by the scuttling of the Lucky-Alpha Beta merger but said that it did not play a role in his decision to leave his job. Instead, the 20-year supermarket executive said he was drawn by the “big challenge” of making “the transition into another type of business.”
Yingling said that he has not decided how to revitalize Thrifty but that he would explore, among other things, customizing stores more closely to the neighborhoods they serve.
Officials at Lucky said an announcement could come as soon as today on Yingling’s successor at the supermarket chain.
The Yingling announcement didn’t help the stock of Thrifty’s parent company, Pacific Enterprises, on Tuesday. It closed at $26.50, off 50 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange, despite a strong 38.24-point gain in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Analyst Paul J. Milbauer of the brokerage C. J. Lawrence & Co. attributed the decline to concerns among investors about second-quarter earnings due out today for Pacific, whose other major holding is Southern California Gas Co. But he also said Wall Street may be losing confidence in Pacific’s ability to turn around Thrifty.
“It seems that this business never catches prosperity,” Milbauer said. “They still may do it, but it’s not in sight yet.”
Bio: William E. Yingling III Yingling, former president of the Southern California division of Lucky Stores, was named chairman of Thrifty Corp. on Tuesday.
Age: 47
Born: Baltimore, Md.
Education: Received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland. He holds a certificate in Russian language from the Slavic Language Academy at Syracuse University and attended graduate school at Towson State University. Yingling served in the U.S. Air Force as a linguist.
Family: Yingling’s wife, Barbara, is a retired school teacher who teaches Sunday school and is active in community volunteer work. The Yinglings’ daughter, Stacey, recently graduated summa cum laude from Auburn University with a major in psychology and minors in languages and business.
Resume: Began his retailing career at Grand Union Corp., a supermarket chain, in 1966, working his way up to regional vice president of its Florida division by 1983. Yingling went to Bi-Lo Stores of South Carolina as vice president of marketing and operations and was promoted to president and CEO in 1984. He has been president of the Southern California division of Lucky Stores since 1986.
Business philosophy: Retailing will continue to be an extremely competitive area, and retailers need to be totally in tune with what customers want.
