Target Veteran Brian Fiala Joins Rite Aid As Executive Vice President Of Store Operations

Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) announced today that Brian R. Fiala, formerly a senior vice president at Target Corporation, is joining the company as Executive Vice President of Store Operations.

Fiala, 46, brings extensive store operations experience to Rite Aid, having spent 24 years at Target where he most recently served as a senior vice president with responsibility for more than 370 stores with $13 billion in sales on the East Coast. During his tenure, he was responsible for Target’s entry into the Northeast, opening the first store there and significantly growing stores and market share in the region. More than 90 percent of the stores he supervised included pharmacies.

Fiala will be responsible for all store operations, supervising six Rite Aid divisional senior vice presidents of operations and reporting directly to Jim Mastrian, Rite Aid’s Chief Operating Officer.

“Brian will be a great asset to Rite Aid with his strong background in store operations and the unique perspective he brings from his leadership positions at one of the most respected retailers in the country,” Mastrian said. “His experience in the East will be particularly valuable now that Rite Aid has become the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast with the recent acquisition of Brooks Eckerd. His experience in supervising Target store operations in many of Rite Aid’s major markets like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C will be extremely valuable.”

Fiala joined Target in 1983 as a management trainee, working his way up through various field management roles to senior vice president. He served as a store team leader, a regional merchandise manager and a district team leader before being named a Regional Director charged with Target’s entry into the Northeast region where he grew store count to more than 100 and generated top scores for customer service. In 1998 he was named Regional Vice President for the Northeast and in 2001 was promoted to Senior Vice President.

Fiala holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing from Western State College in Colorado. His appointment is effective immediately.