The Pantry Hires Joe Venezia as SVP of Operations

CARY, N.C. -- The Pantry Inc., operator of Kangaroo Express convenience stores, is adding Joe Venezia to its executive leadership team as senior vice president of operations.

Venezia joins The Pantry from TitleMax. In his new role at The Pantry, he will lead the company's store operations and be focused on driving sales, improving store productivity and leading the store operations team.

Prior to TitleMax, Venezia worked at Walmart, where he served in several regional general manager positions before being appointed to division president for the northeast division. In the northeast division, he was responsible for 420 stores and more than 100,000 employees. He also worked as president and general manager for Wells Fargo Merchant Services and as a brand manager for Procter & Gamble.

"Joe is a proven leader with an impressive blend of operating and brand management experience," said The Pantry's CEO Dennis Hatchell. "He is ideally suited to lead operations at The Pantry with a successful track record of growing retail and consumer goods sales." Venezia earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. He has also served as a captain and company commander in the U.S. Army and received a Bronze Star Medal for his bravery during Operation Desert Storm.

Venezia's appointment comes about 15 months after The Pantry's former senior vice president of operations, Brad Williams, resigned. The c-store chain has seen a bit of an executive shuffle since then. Former CEO Terry Marks stepped down from his position in late 2011 to become CEO at Atlanta-based Hooters of America LLC. His departure was followed by David Henniger, former marketing vice president, in March 2012 and CFO Mark Bierley in May 2012, as CSNews Online previously reported.

Hatchell was tapped to lead The Pantry in February 2012.

As of Aug. 6, the company operated 1,589 convenience stores in 13 states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express, its primary operating banner.