Empire shuffles executive leadership team
Pierre St-Laurent, president and chief executive officer of Empire Company Limited (Empire), has announced his new executive leadership team.
Luc L’Archevêque has been appointed to the newly created role of chief customer officer.
He brings more than 25 years of experience in the grocery industry to the new role, becoming Empire’s chief merchandising officer in 2022.
L’Archevêque will bring marketing and merchandising together ahead of Sandra Sanderson’s retirement in July as Empire’s chief marketing officer.
Sanderson and L’Archevêque will work closely with the team to support ongoing priorities.
Julia Knox has been named the company’s chief retail officer, with end-to-end responsibility for retail operations, supply chain and central kitchens.
Knox joined Empire in 2021 as senior vice-president of merchandising solutions and retail enablement. Two years ago, she took on the role of chief technology and analytics officer, bringing her retail experience and leadership to the company’s technology modernization initiatives.
She will oversee the completion of these initiatives during a 12-month transition before fully assuming the new role.
During the transition, Jean-Louis Bellemare, who co-founded Farm Boy with is wife in 1981, will serve as interim executive advisor to the chief retail officer, reporting directly to the CEO. During this time, the chief retail officer’s leadership team will report to Bellemare, who joined Empire following its acquisition of Farm Boy in 2018.
Over the next 12 months, Knox will continue to lead the function, renamed technology and transformation, to reflect the team’s focus on modernizing technology and driving transformation, including the use of next-generation systems.
The e-commerce function will join the technology and transformation team, with the intention of developing synergies between platform development, data and digital capabilities with how customers shop online.
Doug Nathanson has expanded his responsibilities to include pharmacy with his role as Empire’s general counsel and chief pharmacy and development officer.
Costa Pefanis will continue as chief financial officer, with strategic sourcing now also reporting to him.
Sandra Pasquini will remain in her role as chief human resources officer, continuing her responsibility for all HR functions.
