Dive Brief:
- Albertsons announced Thursday the appointment of Harmit Singh, chief financial and growth officer of Levi Strauss & Co., to its board of directors, effective immediately.
- Singh’s appointment marks the third time since early September that the company has announced the addition of executives to its board, which has grown from 10 members to 15 during that time.
- Singh joins the board just a few days after Albertsons announced that it is undergoing a strategic review in a bid to help turn around its sagging financial performance.
Dive Insight:
Albertsons said that Singh brings more than four decades of global financial, operational and strategic leadership experience to its board.
Singh, who plans to retire from Levi Strauss on Nov. 30, currently leads the company’s finance division, the transformation office, investor relations and information security. He also oversees the company’s strategic sourcing, real estate and franchise expansion, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and global talent hubs, according to the press release.
Albertsons noted that Singh played a key role in overseeing Levi Strauss’ return to the public markets in 2019 as well as its global retail footprint expansion.
Singh also serves on the boards of Planet Fitness, Inc. and not-for-profit health care system Sutter Health.
Before Levi Strauss, Singh was CFO at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, where he led the company’s IPO, and was CFO of Yum! Restaurants International and Pizza Hut. He also held financial leadership roles at American Express and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“His track record of accelerating growth, improving business performance, scaling store and franchise networks and guiding public companies through complex transformations will bring valuable perspective to our board as we create long-term value for all stakeholders,” Albertsons CEO Susan Morris said in a statement about Singh.
At the start of September, Albertsons named Meg Whitman to the newly created role of executive chair of the company’s board of directors, noting that she will act as an advisor to Morris and the rest of the company’s C-suite. Whitman, a high-profile former tech industry CEO, is well known for turning around the financial performance of eBay and Hewlett-Packard.
At the end of September, Albertsons added three more members to its board: Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising for Lowe’s Companies; Chris Drumgoole, chief operating officer of Aligned Data Centers; and Meg Ham, the former president of Ahold Delhaize USA banner Food Lion.
“We continue to strengthen our board with capabilities that support Albertsons’ next phase of growth,” Whitman said in the Thursday announcement. “Harmit’s experience improving performance and creating value at complex, consumer-facing companies will be an important asset as we advance our strategy and strengthen execution.”
