Andrew R. Gromen

Class of 2011

Born in Washington, DC, to Peter and Bernice on February 17, 1953, Andrew R. Gromen has three siblings, Peter, Marilyn and James.

Andy attended Suitland Senior High School, in Suitland, MD, graduating in 1971, and then joined the American Merchant Marine, assigned to the MS Stonewall Jackson.

After his stint with the Merchant Marine, Andy began his 35-year career in the candy business in 1976 with Schrafft’s Candy Co. as a sales representative and retail merchandiser, resetting candy sections in all Drug Fair stores in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, markets.

After a year with the company, he was relocated and promoted to territory manager covering Florida, where he was responsible for resetting the candy planograms in two divisions of the Pantry Pride grocery chain, including all aspects from logistics and fixtures, to products and additional personnel provided by vendors.

In 1980, Andy managed Schrafft’s Florida business as part of Dan J. King Brokerage Co. Two years after taking the position, he married Cynthia at Peninsula Christian Church in Tampa, FL. Together they have two children: Matthew and Miranda.

In 1986, he joined the Pearson Candy Co. sales team as a regional sales manager, where his territory spanned one third of the country. He held the position for more than 12 years, during which he grew the business from $900,000 to $10 million.

He was promoted to national sales manager in 1999, which made him responsible for all the company’s sales, both domestic and international, as well as the entire broker network. He directly handled major retailers, including Walmart Stores, Inc., Sam’s Club, Dollar General Corp. and Kmart.

In 2002, Andy was promoted to national accounts manager, a position he still holds. In this capacity he is responsible for Kmart, Target Corp., Walmart, Dollar General, Family Dollar Stores, Inc. and all club accounts, as well as international sales. He is also the Pearson Candy site administrator for Walmart Retail Link, Target Partner Online and Costco Extranet.

He has been involved as a member of the NCA trade relations committee, and served on the executive committee and as treasurer of the Candy Marketing Coalition, LLC, from 2006 until 2010.

Andy enjoys spending time at the beach and fishing.