Jewel-Osco President Paul Gossett Quietly Steps Down Just Over a Year Into the Job; Former Exec Steps In

Paul Gossett quietly stepped down as president of Jewel-Osco in the fall, just over a year after he took the reins of Chicago’s largest grocery chain following the sudden death of his predecessor, Doug Cygan.

Gossett, a longtime Albertsons executive who moved to the Chicago area from the Boston area for the job, “left the company to pursue other opportunities,” Mary Frances Trucco, a spokeswoman for Albertsons-owned Jewel-Osco, confirmed in an email Tuesday. The company did not publicly announce the leadership change when it happened and Trucco did not provide any other information about Gossett’s departure.

Mike Withers, who served as president of Jewel-Osco from 2014 to 2017, has returned to take Gossett’s place, Trucco said. Withers, who started with Albertsons in 1976 as a courtesy clerk, since 2017 has served as executive vice president of retail operations for Albertsons’ East region, based out of the company’s Boise, Idaho headquarters.

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