Come next April, Ahold Delhaize expects to have Thierry Garnier at the helm as its new CEO.
The grocery company’s board nominated Garnier last month as Fran Muller’s successor ahead of Muller’s retirement.
Garnier will join the Dutch grocery company from Kingfisher, an international home improvement company, but the world of grocery is not uncharted territory for him. For 22 years, Garnier held numerous leadership roles at French supermarket chain Carrefour, including CEO of Carrefour International and CEO of Carrefour Asia.
“Garnier’s appointment as the new CEO of Ahold Delhaize appears to signal continuity rather than a major strategic shift,” Dan Butler, an insight partner at retail market research firm IGD, wrote in emailed comments to Grocery Dive.
Naming a new CEO for Ahold Delhaize meant finding someone to pass the Growing Together strategy baton to, as the wide-scale performance initiative is still well underway.
Ensuring uniformity is a cornerstone of the Growing Together plan, Butler said, noting that the strategy has remained consistent over the past few years.
“In that context, Garnier’s arrival is likely less about transformation and more about ensuring steady execution,” he said.
However, there are aspects of Ahold Delhaize’s business that industry analysts believe will gain momentum once Garnier takes the reins — and they note that it’s Garnier’s time at Kingfisher, not Carrefour, that makes him best suited to take over Ahold Delhaize.
More to come on omnichannel
Digital and omnichannel expansion is an area of expertise for Garnier, experts said, so they expect he will make these initiatives a priority as CEO of Ahold Delhaize.
Verushka Shetty, an equity analyst and covering analyst for Ahold Delhaize at Morningstar, credited Garnier with strengthening Kingfisher’s online business during his nearly seven years as CEO. This achievement unfolded against the backdrop of Kingfisher’s stock dropping nearly 20% over the last five years, largely due to the European home improvement market normalizing post-pandemic, Shetty said in emailed remarks to Grocery Dive.
Butler also expects Garnier to accelerate Ahold Delhaize’s omnichannel ambitions by creating a more seamless online-to-in-store experience for shoppers, bolstering e-commerce capabilities, building out the company’s loyalty programs and leaning into retail media to drive additional revenue streams.
Ahold Delhaize’s online performance isn’t uniform across geographies. During its most recent quarter, the company reported that its online sales increased more than 8%, while stateside online sales grew over 14%. But given Garnier’s European business background, specifically on the digital operations front, he may help the grocery company ramp up omnichannel operations in its home continent.
“[Garnier’s] track record of rapid piloting and willingness to act decisively when initiatives underperform could lead to faster testing of new concepts,” Butler said.
Strengthening the U.S. business
The company’s U.S. business, which accounts for around two thirds of its sales, presents multiple challenges for Garnier.
Ahold Delhaize USA is currently without a permanent CEO as JJ Fleeman announced plans to depart in March to join Dollar General as its CEO at the start of next year. Garnier will therefore likely inherit a new permanent CEO for ADUSA by the time he officially joins Ahold Delhaize.
Traditional grocers stateside are up against steep competition from hard discounters, online retailers and superstores, most notably Walmart, Shetty said, and ADUSA banners are no exception.
“Strengthening [ADUSA’s] competitive positioning across US regions in the medium to long term will also be critical,” she said.
An ongoing priority for ADUSA — and soon for Garnier — is continuing the turnaround of Stop & Shop, Butler said. Butler believes Garnier’s willingness to act decisively when new initiatives don’t excel can help put pressure on underperforming stores and markets to either “improve or face restructuring,” he said.
“[S]trengthening synergies across Ahold’s geographically diverse banners while preserving local relevance” is something Garnier will have to prioritize on an international scale, Butler said. And it’s especially important in the U.S., where operations consist of regional banners that run up and down the country’s East Coast.
Garnier’s time at Kingfisher demonstrated that he can scale critical initiatives and programs while also allowing local teams freedom, according to Butler. He predicts Garnier will leverage private label development across markets — something that has been essential to Ahold Delhaize’s Growing Together strategy in the U.S. Butler noted that Garnier’s leadership style also has a reputation for giving more autonomy to local teams, which enables them to more quickly respond to shopper needs “within a consistent strategic framework.”
“[Garnier] brings strong international leadership experience alongside a proven track record in digital and operational transformation, both of which are critical for a multi-market retailer like Ahold Delhaize,” Butler said.
