Rite Aid Corp. has promoted senior EVP of merchandising, marketing and logistics Ken Martindale, a former Pathmark executive, to the position of COO, effective immediately. Martindale succeeds fellow Pathmark alumnus John Standley, who was promoted from Rite Aid’s president and COO to president and CEO after the Camp Hill, Pa.-based company’s June 23 annual meeting.

“In a very short time, Ken has had a significant impact on a number of the initiatives we’re implementing to improve our performance and grow profitable sales, including the launch of our new customer loyalty program ‘wellness+,’ the revamping and expansion of our private brand program and our segmentation strategies for low-volume stores,” noted Standley, who was Pathmark’s CEO before its acquisition by A&P. “Add to that his first hand experience in store operations during his extensive retail career, and Rite Aid has a very talented and accomplished new COO.”

In his new role, Martindale, who continues to report to Standley, has overall responsibility for all store operations in addition to category management, marketing, merchandising and supply chain. A retail veteran with 35 years of diverse operations, marketing and merchandising experience, Martindale joined Rite Aid in December 2008. He was previously co-president, chief merchandising and marketing officer for Carteret, N.J.-based Pathmark Stores, Inc. until December 2007, when the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (A&P) acquired the company.

Martindale began his retail career in 1975 with Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, where he rose from a district manager in store operations to SVP of marketing and SVP of sales and merchandising. In January 1998, he joined Fred Meyer, Inc., after it bought Smith’s. He was EVP, sales and procurement for Fred Meyer until September 1999, when the company merged with Kroger.

Additionally, during his retail career, Martindale founded and operated Orchard Street, Inc., a Salt Lake City food retailer; consulted for national and regional food retailers on category management, marketing and strategic planning; and was president, CEO and chairman of Intesource, Inc., a software company created to assist food and drug retail, wholesale and manufacturing clients with procurement.

Rite Aid operates nearly 4,800 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia.