Jeff Oki
Biography
Jeff Oki is the rare professional who worked his entire career with one company. During his 47 years with Grocery Outlet Jeff held leadership positions in almost every functional area.
Profile/Work History
Jeff Oki is the rare professional who worked his entire career with one company. During his 47 years with Grocery Outlet Jeff held leadership positions in almost every functional area. His influence on the culture and contribution to the Company’s remarkable success cannot be overstated.
Jeff started with Grocery Outlet in 1973 as a retail clerk in the Berkeley, California Grocery Outlet store (then known as Canned Foods). In his first leadership role he managed a large company-owned retail store. Over the next 10 years he was given progressively greater levels of responsibility; from managing a warehouse/distribution center, to a stint as district manager overseeing 26 retail stores and then heading up three warehouses in California. During this time Jeff obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Jeff was responsible for Grocery Outlet’s technical strategy from 1983 through 2016. In 1997 he was made VP of Information Technology and in 2007 was promoted to Chief Information Officer, a position he held until 2016.
In 2009 Jeff took on an additional role as VP of Construction and over the next nine years opened 150+ retail outlets and managed annual budgets in excess of $60 million. Jeff and his team orchestrated a massive rebranding effort including new fixtures, and interior décor and exterior upgrades for 170+ legacy stores. In an adjacent role, Jeff sat on the real estate committee and was actively engaged in site selection for over 200 retail stores.
In 2015, Jeff was selected to oversee the Company’s mission-critical expansion into Southern California. As SVP of New Markets he successfully opened 50+ locations and successfully started the Companies expansion into Los Angeles.
Jeff has been as active member of the Senior Executive team at Grocery Outlet for over 21 years, the longest tenure of any executive team member. His contributions at Grocery Outlet are many and ultimately led to a very successful IPO on the Nasdaq, June 20, 2019.