Supermarket company Sobeys has “realigned” its organizational chart around its Sobeys and IGA grocery store chains rather than by geography.
The Nova Scotia-based company on Thursday said it has formed two business units, each with its own president of operations. The IGA unit includes the company’s IGA chain plus four other Quebec-based retail chains, IGA extra, Rachelle-Bery, Les Marches Tradition and Marche Bonichoix.
The other unit, dubbed the “multi-format operations” unit, will include Sobeys, Thrifty Foods, Sobeys Urban Fresh, Foodland, FreshCo, Needs, Fast Fuel and Sobeys liquor retail outlets. It will also include IGA stores in Western Canada.
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Marc Poulin will continue to lead the IGA unit, Sobeys said, while the “multi-format” unit will be led by Jason Potter, formerly president of operations for Sobeys’ Atlantic region.
Sobeys CEO Bill McEwan on Thursday described the new chains of command as “a confident, proactive accelerant of our strategy to optimize our performance in an increasingly competitive environment.”
The reorganization also includes two other promotions: chief financial officer Francois Vimard now becomes Sobeys’ executive vice-president, and the new CFO, Paul Jewer, is promoted from senior vice-president for finance and treasury. Jewer will report to Vimard.
The Sobeys company, an arm of Empire Co. Ltd., owns or franchises over 1,300 stores under its various banners across all 10 Canadian provinces.
