Boulder County grocer Alfalfa’s has named natural-foods retailing veteran John Varsames as chief operating officer.
Varsames, who last year was hired as vice president of operations at Alfalfa’s, previously held management positions at Whole Foods and Wild Oats.
Alfalfa’s also promoted Lisa Fallon to vice president of finance and administration, and named Paul McLean vice president of purchasing, marketing and merchandising.
Varsames will lead store operations and new-store development activities.
“When we brought John on board over a year ago, we knew he had the experience to take our store operations to the next level,” said Mark Retzloff, Alfalfa’s board member and co-founder.
The management moves follow after a dispute with fellow board member Barney Feinblum. Retzloff retained his board seat and equity stake in Alfalfa’s.
Board member James Searcy continues to serve as interim CEO, a role he assumed when Retzloff departed.
Alfalfa’s operates stores in Boulder and Lafayette.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp
