Thomas Hübner, the current CEO for Carrefour Europe, is to resign and after his departure, Carrefour will divide Europe into several mini-zones that are easier to control. Gérard Lavinay, current CEO of Carrefour Belgium, will be promoted and take charge of a zone consisting of Belgium, Poland and Romania.
François Melchior de Polignac new CEO Carrefour Belgium
“This will be a new experience for me, but I’m happy to stay in Belgium, a country that has become very dear to me”, said Lavinay, the architect of Carrefour’s successful Belgian comeback.
Lavinay’s replacement, François Melchior de Polignac, studied at the Haute Ecole de Commerce in Paris and at Cambridge. He started his career at L’Oréal Italy, and had a stint at Boston Consulting Group before joining Carrefour in 2000. In 2011 he climbed up to the position of CEO of Carrefour Romania.
According to the Romanian press, which had announced his departure at the end of August, he has managed to double the number of Carrefour stores (from 35 to 70) in the 2.5 years he was in charge. He also developed the concept of ‘evening stores’, collaborating with local entrepreneurs.
News of the managerial changes has caused a bit of a ruckus in France, as Carrefour’s management was not planning on revealing the news yet. It had not even communicated with the labour unions, something the latter did not appreciate at all.
