Rick Taylor

Senior Grocery Retail Leader | Driving Operational Excellence & Customer Experience

Camas, Washington, United States

About

I am an innovative, customer focused operations leader who creates the vision and strategy for successful retail operations, leveraging strong business acumen and sound financial instincts to drive positive results. I use my experience and leadership skills to maximize revenue and profit growth and eliminate unnecessary costs to position the company as a leader within an extremely competitive industry. I recognize employees are the driving force behind business success. I’m known for creating work cultures that help employees thrive and grow in their careers through mentoring, coaching, and training to improve performance and open the door to advancement opportunities. I am a strong believer in the power of networking, so I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Experience

  • Vice President of Store Operations at UNFI
    Nov 2024 - Apr 2026 · 1 yr 6 mos

  • Corporate Director of Retail Initiatives at Albertsons
    Apr 2018 - Nov 2024 · 6 yrs 8 mos

    Albertsons Companies is one of the country’s largest food and drug retailers, locally great and nationally strong. Albertsons operates stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia under 20 well-known banners; in total, there are 2,250+ stores, 285,000 employees, and $60 billion in annual revenue. Selected in 2018 to lead a new corporate Team, we’re sales focused, cost conscious, and store driven. I’ve led the team to: ► drive the bottom line, impacting results through business transformations that reduce costs/improve revenue growth ► capture millions in shrink reductions with significant anticipated savings ► document 75+ sales/shrink fundamentals and best practices to address excessive shrink and created a resource for all stores I’ve led improvement projects, introducing technology and processes to streamline store operations for associates. I collaborated across multiple business units focused on improving productivity as well as the customer experience, while increasing sales and profit.

  • Albertsons Companies (Boise, Idaho, United States)
    • Vice President: Retail Operations | Tom Thumb/Albertsons Division in N. Texas Region
      Jan 2016 - Apr 2018 · 2 yrs 4 mos

      Establishing and driving the region’s retail vision, I: ► held P&L accountability for 100+ grocery stores, generating over $2 billion in sales ► determined operational strategies: customer service, food safety, staffing and employee development, sanitation, top-line sales and bottom-line profits ► assigned/engaged with task force for best-in-class backroom standards program leading to inventory levels 3% less than company average ► reduced shrink by 55 basis points ► significantly propelled food safety and sanitation with best in company recognition ► captured $1 million+ in annual expense reductions

    • Integration Leader | Strategic Project Manager
      2015 - 2016 · 1 yr

      Facilitated the merger of Safeway/Albertsons, Portland division, consolidating operations, transitioning technology, identifying best practices, and establishing new infrastructure. Led cross-functional teams to manage store integrations with minimal impact to stores and the customer experience.

  • Safeway (Full-time · 8 yrs 11 mos)
    • Corporate Director of Retail Execution
      Jan 2011 - Nov 2014 · 3 yrs 11 mos

      Safeway, Inc. merged with Albertsons Company, where I continued my career. In my position as Safeway’s Corporate Director of Retail Execution, I reported to the Executive Vice President of Retail, charged with building and implementing programs and establishing best practices to support the divisions with improved customer service and increased financial service sales, and acting as an overall trusted resource. In addition, I: ► rallied teams and coalitions to the importance of the company’s programs and goals ► spearheaded the development of a new customer service program to improve customer feedback and overall experience, determining requirements, developing tracking and reporting, and creating training videos for associates ► improved overall shopper satisfaction (OSAT) scores by 22.2% ► turned around negative sales in telecom and payment products, growing telecom products by 13.8% in two years and prepaid debit card sales by 30.2% with a 58.5% reload sales increase

    • District Manager
      2006 - 2011 · 5 yrs

      Promoted to District Manager for the Medford and West Portland districts, with a combined 34 stores and 3,400 employees, Held P&L accountability for $625 million in annual revenue. In this position, I oversaw all store operations, including sales, store presentations, and customer service. Recognized for Division-Leading Store Standards. Spearheaded the opening of new stores and major store remodeling projects.

  • Store Manager at Safeway
    1999 - 2005 · 6 yrs

    Led the daily operations of three stores. Championed the fundraising efforts of the division for the annual breast cancer fundraiser, resulting in a 421% increase in funds raised, which was $434,775 over the previous year.