Golub Corp./Price Chopper Supermarkets has named Larry Ritzert director of meat merchandising, a new position; and Frank Manion and Scott Sabatino zone directors.

Reporting directly to v.p. of perishables Mark Brown, Ritzert will oversee sales, margin, variety, inventory, advertising, and long term-planning for the meat department at the Northeast regional chain. Ritzert came to the grocer last year from Supervalu in Cincinnati, where he was meat/seafood director. His most recent position at Price Chopper was senior category manager, meat merchandising.

In his new role Manion, who reports directly to regional v.p., operations Al Provancher, will develop and attain budgeted expense and profit figures for a group of stores in the Pennsylvania and the Syracuse, N.Y. regions. He will also oversee all merchandising programs and procedures for those stores. A Price Chopper employee since 1987, Manion has held several operational management positions. He most recently was regional perishable merchandiser.

Manion took over Zone 5 (Syracuse stores) from another zone director who was moved to Zone 2 (Connecticut-region stores), a Price Chopper spokeswoman told Progressive Grocer.

Sabatino, who reports directly to regional v.p., operations Jody Plonski, will perform similar duties for a group of stores in the Capital District (counties surrounding Albany, N.Y.). He joined the company in 1988 and has held the positions of store manager, center store coordinator, and most recently regional non-perishable merchandiser.

Schenectady, N.Y.-based Golub owns and operates 115 Price Chopper locations in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.  The family-owned company employs more than 23,000 associates who collectively own 55 percent of the company's privately held stock.