Mr. President

Stater Bros. Markets (Colton, Calif.) has named Jim Lee president and chief operating officer.

Lee, a 34-year veteran of the supermarket Industry, most of that in Southern California, joined Stater Bros. in 2002 as group senior vp, retail operations. In 2005, he was promoted to executive vp, retail operations and administration.

He had been president and coo of Wild Oats Markets (Boulder, Colo.) from 1996 to 2001.

Lee spent 25 years with Ralphs Grocery Co. (Compton, Calif.), now a division of Kroger Co. (Cincinnati), starting as a store manager before eventually becoming group vp of the central division.