Bashas’ Family of Stores, which operates Food City, AJ's Fine Foods, Eddie's Country Store, and both Bashas' and Bashas' Diné supermarkets, has hired Barry Craft as vice president of marketing, merchandising and procurement for more than 100 grocery stores across Arizona. After a transition period, Craft will be taking over responsibilities from Phil Hawkes, a longtime Bashas’ veteran who is retiring.
Craft comes to Bashas’ with an accomplished supermarket background in merchandising, marketing, and category management. With leadership roles at leading regional retailers in the southeastern United States and Texas, he has earned recognition as a developer of new brands, private labels, and the largest consumer baby expo in the world.
“Barry brings almost 40 years of experience in the supermarket industry, with a notable track record of generating sales and margin growth,” said Edward (Trey) Basha, president of Bashas’ Family of Stores. “He has built and maintained excellent relationships within the organizations he has worked for, as well as with the vendor community, and this business philosophy makes him an ideal fit for our Basha’s leadership team.”
Craft’s award-winning career began with a Winn Dixie retail career scholarship directly out of high school. He then spent 10 years at Bruno’s Inc., opening a new market for the company in Tennessee, and later serving as district manager over multiple formats in metropolitan Birmingham. Craft then joined SGSM Acquisition Group as director of retail operations, overseeing the Schwegmann Supermarket chain in New Orleans, and later maintaining the chain’s operational value through divestiture.
He spent the next 16 years at H-E-B in Texas serving as unit director/team leader, senior business development manager, and director of merchandising. After a year as vice president of sales for a juvenile products manufacturer, Craft rejoined the grocery industry with a position at Fiesta Supermarkets, where he led the center store category management team prior to taking on a new role as director of pricing/business integration.
