STELLARTON, N.S. – The Sobeys grocery chain is splitting executive responsibility for various parts of its business in a move to improve efficiency in an increasingly competitive food industry.
Marc Poulin will be president of IGA Operations, which includes IGA, IGA Extra, Les Marches Tradition, Marche Bonichoix, and Rachelle-Béry banners in the province of Quebec.
Jason Potter will be head of Multi-Format Operations, which includes Sobeys, Thrifty Foods, IGA stores in Western Canada, other grocery banners, Fast Fuel and the company’s liquor operations.
“We have made these changes as a confident, proactive accelerant of our strategy to optimize our performance in an increasingly competitive environment,” said Bill McEwan, president and CEO, Sobeys Inc.
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Potter had been president of operations for the Sobeys Atlantic region.
In addition, Francois Vimard has been appointed executive vice-president of Sobeys Inc., responsible for finance, information technology, distribution and logistics, real-estate, legal and construction.
Paul Jewer has been appointed chief financial officer of Sobeys Inc, reporting to Vimard who has been CFO.
McEwan added that the Nova Scotia-based company, which is the main subsidiary of Empire Co. (TSX:EMP.A), is making the moves “from a position of strength.”
“The infrastructure investments that we have made, the leadership we have in place and the performance momentum we have generated allow us to realign for efficiency and advance from a position of strength,” he said.
Canada’s grocery industry is intensely competitive, particularly in Ontario where the large domestic chains – Loblaws (TSX:L), Metro (TSX:MRU.A) and Sobeys – are competing with U.S. department store giant Walmart and other retailers, such as Shoppers Drug Mart (TSX:SC), that have added food to their offerings.
Sobeys announced last month that it will handle the grocery supply chain for Walmart competitor Target (NYSE:TGT) when it enters the Canadian market in 2013.
As part of the agreement, Sobeys and Target will use each other’s distribution networks to help reduce transportation expenses.
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