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Belgian-Dutch supermarket company Ahold Delhaize has fired Denis Knoops, CEO of the Belgian Delhaize branch. He pays the price for his division’s weak performances and will be replaced by Xavier Piesvaux.
25 years of service
Knoops was CEO for about three years, ever since he succeeded Dirk van den Berghe at the top of Delhaize Belgium. “We thank Denis for his dedication and valuable contribution throughout 25 years, serving the company in a variety of commercial, operational, strategic, and real estate roles across Belgium, the United States, and Asia. Denis has led Delhaize during the last three years keeping it true to its strong 150-year heritage that has made it a leading brand in Belgium and Luxembourg. We wish him all the best for the future”, Ahold Delhaize CEO, Dick Boer, said.
Knoops probably had to shoulder the blame for Delhaize’s weak performance in Belgium ever since the merger. Virtually every market has achieved growth since then, aside from the Belgian market.
Walmart
His successor is Xavier Piesvaux, who will take up the reins on 11 September. He has worked in the industry for more than 25 years as well, with Walmart East Canada and a decade in charge of Mega Image, a Romanian chain owned by Ahold Delhaize. “I look forward to serving our more than 5 million customers even better, together with more than 30,000 Delhaize associates and our network of affiliates”, Piesvaux said.
Knoops’ removal is not the only change to Ahold Delhaize’s board, because current Albert Heijn CEO, Wouter Kolk, will become Europe and Indonesia’s COO starting 1 January 2019, replacing Pierre Bouchut, who will retire next year.
