QUINCY, Mass. — Stop & Shop has appointed Dean Wilkinson bfresh lead at its Fresh Formats LLC division, effective March 1.

“Dean brings years of retail operational experience, and he will be a valuable resource as we develop new and innovative format opportunities,” said Stop & Shop president Mark McGowan.  “We are proud of the excellent work of the Fresh Formats team as they just brought the third bfresh store to life in Somerville, Mass.”

Ahold USA and Delhaize America earlier this month announced plans to consolidate the two Stop & Shop divisions — Stop & Shop New York Metro and Stop & Shop New England — into a single organization. The move was part of an ongoing effort to unite and streamline the U.S. operations of Ahold Delhaize, the company formed last July in the merger of Delhaize Group and Ahold N.V.

Fresh Formats, the company that created the bfresh format, was folded into the consolidated Stop & Shop operation.

Wilkinson’s retail career spans more than two decades. He started as a customer service director at at Stop & Shop as a customer service director. He was promoted to district manager before taking a regional vice president position at Ahold USA’s Giant Landover division. Wilkinson later served as director of non-foods and the divisional vice president of sales, merchandising, and marketing.  In 2015, Wilkinson joined the Ahold USA organization in his most recent post as senior vice president of store strategy and execution.

In his new role, Wilkinson succeeds Scott Miller, interim senior vice president of operations at Fresh Formats, who has decided to leave the company in order to pursue other opportunities.

Glenn Hogan, currently vice president of regional operations for the Stop & Shop New England Division, will leave that role to join Ahold USA and replace Wilkinson in the store strategy & execution role on an interim basis.