T&T Supermarket CEO passes the torch

T&T Supermarket has a new CEO. Tina Lee, director of strategy and operations, took over Canada’s largest Asian supermarket chain as of Oct. 1. Tina is the daughter of T&T's founder, Cindy Lee, who announced her retirement one day earlier. The retirement and new appointment dates were tied to the opening of the newest T&T store – Cindy Lee’s last official action as CEO. Tina Lee grew up on the west coast, watching her mother grow the T&T empire. Cindy opened two locations in 1993, expanding to a current 23 stores in B.C., Alberta and Ontario. READ: T&T supermarket opens new Ora location Tina holds an MBA from the Anderson School of Business at University of Los Angeles. In 2009, when Tina became director of strategy and operations, she was closely involved in the negotiations around Loblaw's acquisition of T&T and acted as the liaison between the two companies. During much of her time with T&T she has been based in Ontario. Cindy Lee will be pursuing personal goals in her retirement. She said she knows she will miss the company but is happy about the long-planned succession by her daughter. Cindy sought out business advice from her father in the early years, and no doubt will be available as an occasional sounding-board to Tina in the future.