The Friday Checkout is a weekly column providing more insight on the news, rounding up the announcements you may have missed and sharing what’s to come.
Ahold Delhaize has only ever been led by company insiders. When the grocery conglomerate took shape in 2016 following the merger of the two title companies, the CEO was Dick Boer, who had led Ahold for the previous few years. In 2018, he handed the reins to Frans Muller, who had been CEO of Delhaize Group and later a top official at Ahold Delhaize.
Now, a decade into its existence, Ahold Delhaize has decided to hand leadership of the company over to an outsider. Thierry Garnier, who has spent the past several years as CEO of U.K.-based home improvement company Kingfisher, is slated to take over for Muller next April.
The news echoed Kroger’s appointment of Greg Foran as its new CEO earlier this year. Like Garnier, Foran’s prior role was with a non-grocery company. And also like Garnier, who spent more than 20 years in leadership roles with French supermarket company Carrefour and several years as a non-executive director at U.K. grocery giant Tesco, Foran had previously been a standout executive in food retail, helping turn around Walmart’s U.S. grocery business.
Ahold Delhaize hasn’t said exactly why it selected Garnier for the role, but his resume and accomplishments paint a pretty clear picture. Like Ahold Delhaize, Kingfisher operates numerous retail banners. Under Garnier’s leadership, the retailer launched a strategy to better manage and combine the strengths of those banners while also optimizing that strategy through artificial intelligence and digital development.
Similarities aside, the appointments of company outsiders to lead Ahold Delhaize and Kroger underscore the challenges that traditional grocers face these days. The rise of AI, price-sensitive shoppers, fierce competition, ongoing digital transformation and more are unsettling and reshaping retail, and companies need new ways of thinking to thrive in this operating environment.
In case you missed it
Albertsons expands dairy private brand
The grocery chain announced this week that it has added several products to its Lucerne Dairy Farms line. Among the new items are several varieties of shredded cheese, including a nacho blend with jalapeño peppers, a taco blend and a queso quesadilla option. Albertsons also unveiled four flavors of coffee creamer: vanilla, sweet cream, cinnamon latte and caramel macchiato.
Albertsons also unveiled an updated logo for the brand that it said conveys “a fresh, modern look that helps customers easily find the dairy products they rely on.”
Wegmans buys land for first Pittsburgh-area store
The East Coast grocery chain has closed a transaction for a site in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, that is slated to host its first location in the state’s second-largest metropolitan area, CBS News reported earlier this month. Wegmans and developer Sippler Enterprises disclosed plans in January 2025 for the 115,000-square-foot store, which will be part of a mixed-use development with two office buildings and homes. The store is slated to open in 2027, according to the news outlet.
Hy-Vee adds tech to improve product availability and freshness
The Midwestern supermarket chain plans to use a platform from Relex Solutions to improve demand forecasting and automate replenishment decisions. The system will boost efficiency and accuracy, specifically for fresh departments, while also offering better visibility across distribution centers and stores, according to the technology provider.
Impulse find
A world without hummus would be disastrous, Stop & Shop reports
The East Coast grocery chain found in a survey ahead of International Hummus Day that 60% of shoppers would be annoyed or even “devastated” if the chickpea-based food vanished.
More than half of respondents said they “love” hummus, over 40% eat it at least weekly and over three-quarters are convinced that the food is intended to be served as a dip. Stop & Shop also made the startling discovery that double-dipping is a common practice, with more than 40% of survey participants admitting that they have committed the sin.
To celebrate National Hummus Day, which takes place on May 13, Stop & Shop will offer shoppers a free 10-ounce container of its private label hummus if they check in at a Savings Station kiosk in one of its stores. The promotion will last from Friday until next Thursday.
