Galen Weston to step back from Loblaw's day-to-day operations as company announces new president
CTV
Galen Weston is stepping back from day-to-day operations of Loblaw Companies Ltd. in a senior leadership shuffle that will see a European retail executive take over as president and CEO.
Galen Weston is stepping back from day-to-day operations of Loblaw Companies Ltd. in a senior leadership shuffle that will see a European retail executive take over as president and CEO.
Canada's largest grocer and drugstore chain said Tuesday the chief executive of Denmark's leading grocery retailer Salling Group A/S, Per Bank, will join the company in early 2024.
The hiring will see Weston step aside from the president role, which he took on in 2021 when Sarah Davis retired from the job. He will remain chairman of Loblaw and chairman and CEO of holding company George Weston Ltd.
"I'm not leaving. I'm stepping back into what I consider to be my natural role as the controlling shareholder," Weston said during a call with analysts.
"The takeaway here is this is not a sharp left turn," he said. "This is about evolution and building on the platform that's been established."
Weston took on the role of president just as Canada entered a sustained period of high inflation. Food costs have risen at the fastest rate in decades.
Higher grocery prices have largely been attributed to supply chain disruptions, extreme weather, soaring input costs and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But some Canadians have questioned whether competition factors or so-called greedflation by grocers have also played a role.
