3 things to know about Loblaw's new CEO and president

During an investor relations call on April 18, Canada’s Loblaw Cos. Ltd., shared details surrounding its incoming CEO and President Per Bank.

Here are three things you should know about the exec Loblaws says is poised to take the helm in early 2024:

• Bank is a 30-year career retailer with deep expertise in retail operations and supply chain, he is the outgoing CEO of Salling Group A/S, the largest retailer in Denmark, with 1,700 multi-banner supermarkets across three countries. The retail group serves 11 million customers a week.
• He has “extensive experience working for a controlling family and understands what that relationship needs to be in order for a partnership to be successful,” said Galen G. Weston, chairman of the Loblaw board of directors and CEO of parent company George Weston Ltd., who added that Bank has also led an organization that has an “outsized cultural and financial place inside his country.” For example, he sits on the board of the Bank of Denmark, where he provides a unique perspective on consumer behavior. “This is the type of experience that goes above and beyond … simply running retail stores,” Weston said.
• He brings a sense of “controlled impatience” to running a business, Weston said. “And that type of impatience is really essential culturally, when you're running a retail business — especially a grocery business where you're making decisions every single week, and you need to have the decisions moving at the speed of the trading.”

Bank named as new president and CEO after global talent search

Bank will be the president and CEO of Loblaw Cos. Ltd., a Canadian supermarket chain and distributor headquartered in Brampton, Ontario. Bank will join the company by the first quarter of 2024.

This appointment is the result of a global talent search initiated in August, after Robert Sawyer announced his retirement as Loblaws' chief operating officer at the end of 2023, according to a news release.

“Over the past two years, we have strengthened the foundations of the company. Our management team is exceptional, and our 220,000 colleagues continue to deliver for our customers every day,” said Weston. “In Per, we have found a world-class retail executive to help us build from that position of leadership and strength, and to continue on that journey.”

Bank is a 30-year career retailer with deep expertise in retail operations and supply chain. He is the outgoing CEO of Salling Group A/S, the largest retailer in Denmark, with 1,700 multibanner supermarkets across three countries, supported by e-commerce, loyalty and private-brand programs, and having one of Denmark’s largest private-sector workforces, according to the release.

When Bank takes his new role in 2024, he will be responsible for Loblaw’s day-to-day operations, and he will report to Loblaw’s board of directors. Weston will remain chairman of the Loblaw board of directors, as well as chairman of the board of directors and CEO of George Weston Ltd. — where he will play an active role setting the strategy for the group, according to the release.

Richard Dufresne will continue as Loblaw’s chief financial officer and president and chief financial officer of George Weston Ltd. Robert Sawyer will remain as chief operating officer until the end of 2023, helping to deliver Loblaw’s 2023 plan while setting up a successful transition for Bank. 

“Coming from Salling, [Per] arrives with a clear understanding of what it means to lead a nation’s largest retail network and team, and a family company established more than a century ago to help Canadians live life well,” Weston said in the release.

Sawyer, Dufresne and Weston have worked side by side with their management teams to improve Loblaw’s performance, he said.

Bank said he’s excited to build on Loblaw’s ongoing success.

“Loblaw is admired worldwide for its sound values, long history of innovation and the strong execution that has made the company what it is today,” Bank said in the release.”

Loblaw has more than 1,050 grocery stores that span the value spectrum from discount to specialty; full-service pharmacies at nearly 1,400 Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix locations and almost 500 Loblaw locations; PC Financial services; affordable Joe Fresh fashion and family apparel; and four of Canada’s major consumer brands in Life Brand, Farmer’s Market, no name and President’s Choice.