Drakes Supermarkets

Drakes Supermarkets prides itself on its long-standing and dedicated team members. Great people build great companies; in our case, these great people become a part of our Drake family. It's always hard then, when one of the family decides it's time to hang up the Black and Whites - Henry Stefanowicz, our Fresh Food Manager (Special Projects) and member of the Senior Executive team has decided to retire after 18 years of service. Henry joined our team as the Store Supervisor of the southern stores in 1998 when Drakes acquired the David's stores. With his knowledge of supermarkets, gained through his long experience at Coles, as well as his role with David's as the Manager of the Retail Division, Henry provided guidance to the managers of the southern Drakes stores. From 1998 to 2005, the company experienced incredible growth which included the takeover of more David's stores, acquiring stores from other independent retailers, the takeover of four of the Franklins stores and our expansion into Queensland. As a result, it was decided the company needed a Fresh Food Manager and Henry took up this position and immediately put his energy into improving the Drakes fresh food offer. Since then, the fresh food area of the business has seen many leading edge innovations, and Henry has overseen the establishment of the Pooraka Meat Centre, as well as the new state-of-the-art Meat Centre at Beverley; and also had responsibility for It's Fresh in SA, Lenards in-stores and the Lenards Production Centre, the introduction of organic fruit and vegetables and the in-store serviced bakery concept. In recent years, Henry has also managed the setup of the new "market" stores at Bridge Road and Glen Osmond Road, and the production of Drakes-branded cheese and deli meats. At the same time, Henry has supervised eight Fresh Food Supervisors in SA, as well as liaising with the team in Queensland to ensure the smooth running of the Queensland fresh operation. Henry is planning to spend his retirement pursuing his other passions on his Adelaide Hills rural property. On behalf of the Executive team and all our staff, I wish Henry and his family all the very best in the future and sincerely thank him for his contribution during his time with Drakes.