Duane Reade's Lederer moves to U.S. Foodservice

ROSEMONT, Ill. Duane Reade chairman and CEO John Lederer is moving on to serve as the new president, CEO and board member at U.S. Foodservice on Sept. 8, the food service distributor announced on Friday.

In the spring, Walgreens acquired Manhattan-based Duane Reade, which Lederer joined in 2008 and immediately embarked on a company-wide revitalization effort. Before joining Duane Reade, he spent 30 years at Loblaw Companies Ltd., a Canadian grocery retailer and wholesale food distributor. He held a number of leadership roles at Loblaw including president from 2001 to 2006.

A spokesperson for Duane Reade was not immediately available to provide additional information.

"John is an incredibly accomplished executive whose personal integrity and leadership style are a great fit for the culture at U.S. Foodservice," stated Edward Libby, chairman of U.S. Foodservice. "John also has tremendous depth in enhancing the customer value proposition and improving the customer experience and I'm confident he will be a terrific leader for U.S. Foodservice."

U.S. Foodservice is a foodservice distributor offering more than 43,000 national, private-label and signature brand items and an array of services to more than 250,000 customers. The Rosemont, Ill.-based company has roughly $19 billion in annualized revenue.