SANFORD, N.C. -- With a top executive leaving The Pantry at the end of November, chairman and CEO Pete Sodini and the rest of the company's board of directors will begin the hunt for a new financial officer with the help of outgoing CFO Daniel J. Kelly.
On Friday, The Pantry announced Kelly's resignation, as reported in a CSP Daily News Flash. Citing health concerns, Kelly, who serves as The Pantry's vice president of finance, CFO and secretary, notified the board of directors April 12 that he intends to resign from his positions.
It was a difficult decision, but for personal and health reasons and a desire to spend more time with my family, I decided to reduce my professional commitments, Kelly said in a statement. Attempts to contact Kelly and Sodini for comment were unsuccessful at presstime.
But Kelly won't be leaving The Pantry immediately. As part of a reworking of his contract, Kelly has agreed to assist the company in the transition necessitated by his resignation. Thus,Kelly and The Pantry entered into an amended employment agreement to continue to work for the company through Nov. 30, 2007, and help find a replacement chief financial officer.
Once the company does hire such a successor, Kelly will assume the title of consultant to the company to aid in the transition of financial officers, according to documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday.
We appreciate Dan's financial leadership during his tenure with us and I have enjoyed working with him, Sodini said. We now undertake a search for a new CFO, and Dan has indicated he will be available until Nov. 30, 2007, to help effect a smooth transition and to provide financial advice after the appointment of a new CFO. We thank him for his service and look forward to continuing to work with him in this process.
Kelly has been with The Pantry since January 2003. Prior to joining the company, he was with Konover Property Trust Inc., a public real-estate investment trust (REIT), where he served as CFO and executive vice president. Before that, he was a partner in the audit division of Arthur Andersen LLP. Prior to being named partner in 1993, he held several positions during his 16-year tenure there.
Kelly is the second vice president at The Pantry to announce his plans to leave the company in recent weeks.
On March 20, The Pantry accepted the notification of retirement of Joseph A. Krol, the vice president of corporate operations. According to an SEC filing posted March 26, Krol announced his intent to retire the previous week. The company chose to accelerate Mr. Krol's retirement by exercising its right to terminate his employment without cause. According to the filing, Krol is entitled to 12 months of severance pay if he does not accept a position with another company.
Also, in early April, The Pantry Inc. appointed Paul Moody to the position of vice president of The Pantry's Group Eagle operations. Moody assumes operational responsibility for more than 750 stores in the company's southern territory in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Previously, Moody was region vice president for The Pantry in the South Carolina market. Moody brings to this position more than 29 years of high-level retail operations management experience.
Based in Sanford, N.C., The Pantry is the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States and one of the largest independently operated convenience store chains in the country, with revenues for fiscal 2006 of approximately $6 billion. As of April 13, 2007, the company operated more than 1,600 stores in 11 states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express, its primary operating banner.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.