Keri, Giant Eagle’s Senior Vice President, Retail Operations, is responsible for the operation of all Giant Eagle and Market District stores. It’s a dream job for the retail veteran who joined the company in 2007.

We sat down with Keri to talk about her passion for retail and for people.

“I love to see our Team Members succeed. We have a ton of talented people at Giant Eagle and a lot of opportunity. It’s about matching our people with the right opportunity and the right career to help them progress. It's also about helping them realize their own talent and helping them fulfill their dreams. My passion is helping our Team Members.”

You began your career as a trainee and have progressively grown your career from there. Did you always know that you wanted to have a career in retail?

Absolutely. I began working in retail 30 years ago right out of college. I went in knowing that my goal was to be a Store Leader or even a multi-store Leader. After achieving that goal, I joined Giant Eagle and have had the opportunity to hold a variety of leadership roles before being promoted to my current position as Senior Vice President of Retail Operations.

What inspired you to join Giant Eagle?

One thing about Giant Eagle is that we have a lot of tenure. It's amazing the number of people and the number of years that they stay here. That was actually one of the reasons I wanted to join Giant Eagle. As I went through the interview process and met all of the people, their years of service were on their name badges. When I was reading 35 years and 40 years of service, I thought there's something special about this place, and it’s a place I want to work at.

You’ve been with Giant Eagle yourself for 16 years now. How would you describe the company culture?

Our environment is people first. It's a warm and welcoming culture. We're great at teamwork. In fact, I think we work best under extreme conditions. When you think it would be the hardest, our team pulls together and does the most amazing work.

The pandemic was a great example of that. When the pandemic started, we had to shut down a number of self-serve areas of the store. So, a lot of that work wasn't happening but our Curbside business was growing exponentially so we redirected Team Members there. Throughout the entire operation, it was one big team effort. The store Team Members, the corporate Team Members; everybody converged on the stores, worked together, and did everything we could to take care of the Guests. It was a huge team effort to get us through the pandemic.

You are passionate about Team Member development. Tell me about career progression opportunities for Team Members in supermarket.

We have so many stories of Team Members that have started at an entry level position and are now executives and in leadership positions with the company. We have a lot of opportunity for people to grow if that's what they want to do.

From interns to Team Leaders, we have a number of development programs for people at various stages of their careers. We also have opportunities where we train people to do the work, such as paid apprenticeship programs. For any Team Members that are interested in growing, we can work with them to get them into the right program and help them to succeed.

What do you love the most about working in retail?

The thing that I love the most is the ability to make a difference. When I think back to being a Store Leader, it's the job in the company where you can have the greatest impact on people. From your Team Members to your Guests, you have the ability in that role to make the greatest impact. As a Store Leader, you have 150 to 200 people that work for you, that you can be investing in and developing to help them get to the next level. You have a direct connection with people that is just really cool.

If you're somebody that likes to work with people and likes to develop people, and to make a difference, you have the greatest ability to do that as a Store Leader.

Ready to find your fit with Giant Eagle? Visit our Careers Page to learn about all the opportunities to grow with us.