Scot DeStasio

“I first met Scot in the fall of 2016. My co-op completed an expansion project in the fall of 2015; about a year post-expansion we identified some areas of the store that were not operating as planned. Upon first meeting Scot, and doing a store walk through together, it was clear that he had a vast amount of experience and was very comfortable in the retail grocery sector. We spent time together the next few months creating a plan to address the issues we had discovered. He talked about the specifics of my market and how it was similar to and different from the other markets he had worked with. We discussed not only the visual aspects of store design and merchandising but Scot also taught me how to use POS sales data to make more informed decisions. We set time aside in February of 2017 to turn the plans into action. I had never done a store reset, so it was a steep learning curve for me! Scot did a great job of mapping out the plan into manageable sized pieces. We worked side by side, with him teaching me along the way. He instilled in me the mantra “let the product be the star” which I’ve since written into a number of our internal training documents. Working with Scot was a great experience. He taught me a lot in the time we worked together. He also made sure to check-in every now and then to see how things were going after the project had concluded.”

Josh Risler, Merchandising Manager Menomonie Food Coop, Menomonie, WI

“Just by meeting Scot, you can tell he has a strong passion for the grocery/retail business and that he loves what he does. He joined our team during a much-needed time and had to work quickly to drive results and improve the performance of our grocery division. He was able to make a significant impact by putting together and rolling out a variety of programs that resulted in reducing labor while increasing our customer service levels. Scot worked hard to instill a sales driven culture throughout our organization while working to reduce and control the inventory to ensure appropriate cash flow for the division. Not only did he bring his skills, passion, and knowledge for the business, but he also helped our organization build the bench by recruiting high-caliber talent to fill a variety of hard-to-fill roles. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to partner with Scot on a variety of initiatives, thus developing a true “business partner” relationship.”

Austin Vogler, SHRM-CP Senior Human Resources Business Partner, Mega Foods