Mia Teal
Marketing Coordinator, Paid Media
In every organization, success isn’t just about the end result—it’s about the journey. While it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of big wins and new initiatives, it’s important to take a moment to celebrate the people who have worked their way through the ranks. These teammates represent the very best of perseverance, dedication, and growth, embodying the values that drive a company forward.
Not only do we want to highlight these teammates, but we want to show YOU that the possibilities are endless when you work for Price Chopper and Market 32. Join us at the Schenectady Main Office on Tuesday, October 29th from 1pm-5pm for open interviews.
Our address is 461 Nott Steet, Schenectady, NY 12308.
You may be wondering why you should work for us or what we have to offer, and the answer is that we have SO much to offer! Some benefits include a 401k plan, a teammate wellness program, flexible scheduling options, room for career growth, and more! We also celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion, new ideas, and creativity within our company. Want to hear from teammates themselves? Let’s hear from those who have worked their way through the ranks!
Alex Derepentigny, Nott Street Store Manager
Alex began his career with Price Chopper/Market 32 in 2007 at the age of 15 as a part time bagger/cashier. After a few years, Alex became a front-end shift supervisor and customer service teammate for about eight years.
Alex continued to work part time while attending The College of St. Rose, majoring in Art Education. After receiving his degree, Alex decided he no longer wanted to pursue a career in education and applied for the Associate Development (ADP) Program to become an assistant team leader in the Bakery Department.
While in the ADP program, he was informed about the Retail Management Academy (RMA) program and applied for that program. Alex was accepted into the RMA program where he learned the skills to be a store co-manager. Upon successful completion of the RMA, Alex began his journey as a Co-Manager, a position he held for three years. Alex then was selected to be a Store Manager in 2023, and has been the store manager of four stores in the last year.
Alex states that he has continued working for Price Chopper/Market 32 because the opportunities for growth are endless. He enjoys being able to mentor teammates who want to pursue management opportunities like he did.
Alex also enjoys serving the community as a whole and making personal connections with the guests who shop in the stores.
Mia Teal, Marketing Coordinator, Paid Media
Mia Teal began her career with Price Chopper and Market 32 in 2017 when she was a Junior in high school. What was meant to only be a part-time job for that summer turned into five years!
Mia studied at the State University of New York, College at Cortland and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with a Concentration in Public Relations and Advertising. Without fail, Mia consistently returned to the front-end during all her winter and summer breaks, and even came back briefly after graduating in December 2021.
One thing about Mia is that if she wants something, she will never give in or give up. She applied for two roles in the Main Office, but was ultimately denied due to lack of experience. Of course, that only made her want a position in the Main Office even more. She finally earned an Internship position in May of 2022, working with the eCommerce Team in the Marketing Department. She learned the ins and outs of Instacart, Price Chopper’s social media presence, blog writing, and more.
After completing this internship in August of 2022, she stayed on the eCommerce team as a Clerk, but also started to learn more about the digital marketing world. As fate would have it, she became drawn to learning everything she could about marketing.
Fast forward to April of 2023 – Mia took a new role within the Marketing Department, this time as a Paid Media Marketing Coordinator. In this current position, Mia oversees sponsored marketing events and Retail Media Network, creates Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat/TikTok ads, helps with social media, recruits influencers, and sends push notifications.
When Mia is not at work, you can find her in the gym, teaching yoga, volunteering with the Young Professionals Network, or hanging out with her two cats.
Mia stated, “I want to thank every single person who believed in me, and helped keep my light alive during the job search. I also want to thank the entire Marketing Department as a whole – you are the best group of people I have ever met.”
Joannah Warenda, Zone 1 Director, Customer Experience Trainer
Joannah joined Price Chopper/Market 32 as a cashier in 2006 at age 17. Within her 18 years of service, she has held numerous roles in multiple locations. She has grown from a cashier to an office teammate. She became an evening shift supervisor in 2012, which was the start of her career.
She had an opportunity to work at the Main Office in Store Audit in 2014, where she learned the guests were her purpose for success. In 2016, she returned to the stores as a cashier.
She restarted her career path in 2018 when she was promoted to Bench Front-End Supervisor (FES) at Market Bistro. In 2020, she landed her first Customer Service Manager (CSM) position in North Troy. In 2022, she slipped into a Sales and Service Leader role (SSL). This ultimately led Joannah into the career of Zone 1 District Customer Service Trainer in October of 2023. This was a pilot position that was created to certify teammates in customer service.
Damian Dylewski, Colonie Store Manager
Damian Dylewski started with Price Chopper in June of 1999 as a part-time overnight Produce teammate. He was a 17-year-old kid that just graduated from high school and was ready to move on with an employer that could work around his college schedule and offer a scholarship. He spent 4 months as a part-time teammate and was fortunate to move on to a full-time position also within the Produce Department.
After two years in the position and finally graduating from college, Damian wanted to advance his career, and moved on to an Assistant Produce Manager for two years. During that time, he helped open two new stores in Connecticut, which helped with recognition and experience. In 2004, Damian became a Produce Manager and really started to advance his career. He moved to several different stores in that position, until an opportunity became available for a Co-Manager in Wilton.
Several months later, he had another great opportunity to become a Market 32 Produce Specialist. That was a very difficult and challenging position, as he oversaw all the new Produce and Floral Department conversions from Price Chopper to a Market 32.
After opening 16 Market 32 locations, Damian decided to try something different and moved on to a Grocery Specialist position to get closer to becoming a Store Manager.
In 2018, he became Store Manager in Chatham. In the last 6 years he has moved around between six different stores, was involved in Market 32 remodels, opened a brand new Market 32 location and ran a million-dollar store.
Damian states, “I am very thankful for the people and the entire company for helping me in my career, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next.”
Samantha Erickson, Junior Pricing Coordinator
Samantha began her career at Price Chopper/Market 32 in 2019 as a part time server in Chef’s Grill at Market Bistro (Store #138). She continued to work at Market Bistro in food service during her school breaks until 2021. Samantha attended the University at Buffalo, SUNY and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Spanish.
In July of 2021, Samantha started an internship with the Digital Marketing/eCommerce team in our Main Office in Schenectady, NY. Her summer project focused on the evaluation of the digital footprint of our Floral Department, conducting competitive analysis, speaking with in-store teams, and working with external partners to find possible solutions. Once the internship was completed, Samantha joined the digital team full-time. During that time, she assisted in the rollout of Doordash as a last-mile delivery solution for our Floral Department in all our stores.
In December of 2022, Samantha accepted a position with our Merchandising team after filling a temporary position as the Category Management Clerk for the Dairy and Frozen desks that summer. Samantha joined the Meat Department as a Category Management Clerk while still assisting the Center Store and Procurement teams with various projects.
In June of 2023, Samantha joined our Pricing department as a Jr. Pricing Coordinator. She works closely with Category Managers to review our competitive footprint and creates periodic reports for our leadership team. Samantha has also helped transition the Pricing Department through our merger with Tops.
Samantha loves working at Price Chopper because of the teammates she has worked with and the opportunities for growth. Her time as a Category Management Clerk gave her opportunities to assist other teams and learn different sides of the grocery business. With many mentors along the way, she has been able to identify her career goals, and the appropriate path needed to achieve them.
Samuel Trimboli, Director, Shopper Experience & Research
Sam Trimboli is a data-driven marketer and business strategist with nearly two decades of combined experience in retail management, consumer and market research, digital marketing, and analytics. As Director of Shopper Experience and Research at Northeast Shared Services, a subsidiary of Northeast Grocery, Inc. (NGI), Sam leads the organization’s marketing analytics and consumer insight functions. His work spans many areas of focus including market research, customer and household analytics, campaign development, customer communications, and optimizing the customer experience across all brand touchpoints for the Market 32, Price Chopper, and Tops supermarket chains.
Sam’s journey with Price Chopper began in 2005 when, at 15 years old, he landed his first job as a cashier at his hometown store in Guilderland, New York (shoutout to #183!) This early exposure to the world of retail sparked his interest in marketing and consumer behavior, setting the foundation for his career.
After high school and throughout college, Sam’s career with Price Chopper accelerated. While initially intending to pursue a career as a high school social studies teacher, an unfavorable job market at the start of the 2008 financial crisis led Sam to rethink his career plans and consider opportunities for advancement within Price Chopper. So, in 2009, Sam applied and was accepted into the first clerk ADP program where he was trained by some of the industry’s best and brightest retail leaders at one of our flagship locations, Clifton Shoppers World #112. During this time, he also enrolled in the Supermarket Management and Operations degree program through a partnership between Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) and Price Chopper.
After completing the ADP program, and while taking classes at HVCC, Sam worked as a bench Front End Supervisor (FES) across various Capital Region stores, before receiving his first permanent assignment at store #045 Delaware Ave. Some of Sam’s proudest career accomplishments came from his time at this store – specifically with his success in improving teammate morale and significantly reducing employee turnover. He then continued his upward trajectory, receiving promotions to FES at Glenmont #196, and later, Customer Service Manager (CSM) in our Berkshire, Massachusetts stores.
In 2011, after completing the Supermarket Management and Operations program at HVCC, Sam transferred to The College of Saint Rose to finish his bachelor’s degree in business and marketing. At this point, he made the difficult decision to step down from his full-time role in operations to focus on his studies. Fortunately, a part-time opportunity arose in the Customer Communications Center (C3), where Sam began his corporate career as a Customer Communications Representative. This position allowed him to explore a new side of the business and was a turning point in his career, marking his first step into the Main Office.
From 2011 to 2013, Sam worked in C3 (now Consumer Services East), handling customer communications and gaining a deeper appreciation for customer experience management. He played an integral role in establishing how our brand communicated with customers on social media (anyone remember “Lisa Price Chopper?”), and spent time interning in the marketing department where he helped establish the company’s presence on Pinterest, a then-new platform.
In 2013, after earning his BS in Business Administration, Sam was hired as a Junior Consumer Insights Specialist as part of the Business Intelligence team, where he helped to lead the company’s consumer and market research initiatives. Over the next decade, Sam’s responsibilities expanded, and he took on roles managing Price Chopper’s digital marketing efforts, including the modernization of our eCommerce offering with the launch of our Instacart partnership, and later a broader role in analytics project management.
Mentorship has been a key factor in Sam’s career progression, and he credits many individuals for the pivotal roles they’ve played in his development. Valerie King, Tamara Julian, Wes Holloway Sr., Heidi Reale, and Glen Bradley were some of the earliest influencers on Sam’s understanding of why professional responsibility, integrity, ownership, kindness, and critical thinking is so important to our business, while current leaders like Mike Miller (EVP, Chief Administrative Officer) and Sean Weiss (VP, Business Analytics & Loyalty Marketing) continue to be invaluable sources of guidance and support, both personally and professionally.
Beyond his career, Sam is active in the community, serving on the boards of directors for the United Way of the Greater Capital Region and the Pride Center of the Capital Region. He is also involved in various initiatives through the Capital Region Chamber – most notably as immediate past chair for Leadership Capital Region, a program that helps develop future leaders through community immersion and professional development experiences. In addition, Sam enjoys combining his expertise in marketing, research, and analytics along with his grocery industry experience to co-chair FMI’s Research and Insights Committee.
In a somewhat full-circle moment, Sam was also able to realize his original aspiration of becoming a teacher – for about five years, Sam served as an adjunct instructor at SUNY Albany, where he taught digital marketing courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Sam holds a BS in Business Administration from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY and an MBA from Clarkson University in Schenectady, NY. He resides in Halfmoon, NY with his partner, Matt, and their maltipoo, Teddy.
Kayla LaLone, Clifton Park Plaza Store Manager
Kayla LaLone has been working for Price Chopper for 20 years. She started at 15 years old at the Malta Price Chopper as a bagger.
Kayla states, “I still remember every minute of my interview from the weather to what I was wearing and of course how nervous I was! I was thrilled when I got the job…mostly because every kid from Ballston High wanted to work for Price Chopper and all my friends worked on the front-end.”
Kayla graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a bachelor’s in Business Management. Price Chopper was the perfect company to work for through college. Her managers were always very accommodating towards her studies.
After graduating, Kayla took her first full-time position as an evening shift supervisor at Market Bistro in Latham, NY. She spent a lot of her career on the front-end until she was selected to be one of the first Sales & Services Leaders (SSLs) for the company in 2016.
This position opens a lot of doors for many teammates to become a Co-Manager, and Kayla did just that. She worked in multiple stores within zone 3 while holding her position as Co-Manager.
Kayla concluded by stating, “I have worked with a lot of great people who have gotten me to where I am today, a Store Manager.”
Aimee Crounse, North Greenbush Floral Team Leader
Aimee Crounse has been with the company for 15 years, starting in 2009 at Clifton Park Shopper’s World as a bagger. She worked multiple departments from Price Accuracy Coordinator (PAC), Pharmacy, and then to Floral where she found her passion.
Aimee then quickly moved to the Saratoga Springs store, #158 as the Assistant Floral Team Leader.
In 2018, she moved to Store #181, Hudson Valley, as Floral Team Leader. She most recently helped with the opening of North Greenbush store, #054.
Aimee states, “I aspire to be a floral buyer one day. I love my job and the community we help and serve everyday. It fills me with such joy to be a part of something so special in people’s lives. I love the joy that the flowers I make bring to my customers everyday. Whether it’s a wedding, 50th anniversary, baby shower or even a funeral I love being there to bring their dreams to reality. I am so grateful to be a part of a team of people that aspire the same as I do and thankful for those who have helped me become a better teammate and manager. I look forward to what the future has for me at Price Chopper and Market 32.”