Magic 8-Ball Says UNFI’s CEO is Anything But A Magician
J. Alexander “Sandy” Douglas didn’t invent the playbook for corporate bloat — but he sure perfected it. After more than three decades at Procter & Gamble, he took over Staples in 2018 and presided over its slow retreat from retail relevance.
Under his watch, the once-ubiquitous office-supply chain effectively collapsed into a business-to-business shell, abandoning storefronts and shedding thousands of jobs.
When UNFI handed Douglas the keys in 2021, it wasn’t a fresh start — it was the same script in a new aisle. The company’s revenues are up roughly 20% since 2020, but the growth has little to do with innovation or efficiency. It’s been driven by the same shortcut he used at Staples: price your way to profit, then dress it up as “strategic transformation.”
Call it what you want — “optimization,” “realignment” or “market recalibration.” The results look the same: higher costs for consumers, fatter margins for executives, and another layer of insulation between decision-makers and the people footing the bill.
For Douglas, it’s a familiar pattern — one that turned paper clips into “solutions” and groceries into so-called “streamlined supply chains.” Different industry, same game…and it’s rigged against you.
Conclusion: you’re funding this charade.