LANDOVER, MD. - Giant Food has selected Irfan Badibanga as its new senior vice president of operations. He will be responsible for leading all operational aspects of Giant Food, including regional operations, store support, strategic store planning and execution and asset protection, as well as people, team, and culture development.
"Irfan has been a successful, entrepreneurial leader, driving enormous growth at some of the largest retail organizations in this country," said Ira Kress, president of Giant. "We are confident that his deep management and operations expertise at both the regional and national level will bring tremendous value to our organization at a time when we are implementing a transformational brand strategy and evolving our culture."
Badibanga has previous industry experience with Walmart, Family Dollar Stores, Winn Dixie Supermarkets, HEB Grocery Stores and Price Chopper Supermarkets. He began his grocery retail career as a bagger and by the age of 24 he was appointed to district manager at Winn-Dixie. He moved through the ranks at a variety of supermarket chains, building his expertise in store management, merchandising, operations, omni-channel delivery, asset protection, HR, and general management.
Most recently he served as senior vice president of operations at Family Dollar Stores, overseeing 8,000 US stores in 44 states. Prior to joining Family Dollar, he was vice president of operations at Walmart, overseeing 33,000 associates across a 110-store region.
"Consumer preferences are shifting, and at Giant, product excellence, convenience, and value are key,” Badibanga said. “I believe my work experience has prepared me well, and I am excited to join the Giant team as we continue to implement brand and operational strategies to serve our customers best."