Galen G. Weston, the public face and top executive behind the Loblaws grocery chain, will step down from his role as president by the end of the year.Loblaw Co.
Ltd. announced Weston’s departure from the role on Tuesday morning. Read more: Grocery CEOs defend ‘reasonable profitability’ in grilling over soaring food costs Per Bank, currently the CEO of Salling Group A/S, the largest retailer in Denmark, will become president and CEO of Canada’s largest grocer in 2024.The appointment follows a search launched in August in anticipation of Robert Sawyer’s retirement as chief operating officer of Loblaw, according to a release.Weston became president in 2021 after the departure of Sarah Davis from the job.
After leaving the role, Weston will remain chair of the board and continue to run Loblaw’s parent company, George Weston Limited.Weston has played both spokesperson and corporate leader for Loblaws’ grocers, appearing in commercials and also defending the company’s profits recently in front of members of Parliament at committee.Weston and other grocery executives have come under fire for their growing corporate profits amid rampant food inflation over the past year.In response to questions from NDP leader Jagmeet Singh at a parliamentary committee last month, Weston defended Loblaw’s business as “reasonable profitability,” saying the company only makes $1 of profit per $25 spent on groceries at its stores.Inflation at the grocery store has cooled slightly as of late, clocking in at 9.7 per cent in March, but remains more than double the headline rate of inflation for the month.In late 2022, Loblaw announced a temporary price freeze on its in-house No Name brand products, which it said was aimed at helping Canadians cope.