Stewart’s Shops’ board of directors has promoted Alison Abbey to vice president of personnel and Kelli Derway to VP of facilities, effective immediately, the company announced on Monday. Both women have been working in their respective departments for the Ballston Spa, New York-based company for more than 15 years.
Derway joined Stewart’s in 1993 as facilities coordinator, according to the announcement. Since then, she became facilities manager, then facilities director, before taking on the VP role. During her time with the company, Stewart’s has doubled its store count to over 400 locations in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. Her department is responsible for more than $50 million in annual remodels and rebuilds, along with site selection for new builds.
“Stewart’s is such a unique and rewarding place to build your career,” Derway said in the announcement.
The VP of facilities role was most recently held by Chad Kiesow, who was promoted to chief operating officer of the company in early 2024, then to president in June.
Abbey joined Stewart’s in 2006 working in personnel for the company’s plant in Greenfield, New York, where Stewart’s processes and distributes many of the dairy products sold in its stores. She has worked in personnel for the last 10 years at the company’s corporate office in Ballston Spa.
Her responsibilities now include managing payroll, benefits administration and partner relations for Stewart’s 5,500-plus employees.
She replaces Tony Carnevale, who is retiring from the company in a few months, a company spokesperson told C-Store Dive.
“At Stewart’s, we have so many dedicated, hardworking partners who make this company what it is,” Abbey said in the announcement. “It is a privilege to support them and I look forward to continuing to help create an environment where they have opportunities to grow with the company.”
These promotions were approved at Stewart’s third-quarter board meeting.
