Stop & Shop President Mark McGowan will leave his post as CEO after nearly 30 years with the grocery retailer, and will be replaced by current Giant Food President Gordan Reid. Both supermarkets are divisions of Ahold Delhaize.
McGowan will remain with Stop & Shop until the end of the year to ensure a seamless transition: Reid will assume his new role in late July. Ira Kress, SVP of Operations at Giant Food, has been appointed interim president.
Reid, who joined Giant Food in 2013, has more than 35 years of experience in international retail and has served in multiple management roles at A.S. Watson Group, Tesco and The Dairy Farm Group.
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As president, McGowan oversaw the fall 2018 launch of the company’s “Reimagine Stop & Shop” initiative, which included lowering prices, changing store design, increasing product selection and bringing digital content and experiences to stores.
The change in leadership announcement comes less than two months after an 11-day strike by 31,000 New England Stop & Shop workers, which resulted in losses in excess of $110 million. Stop & Shop spokeswoman Jen Brogan said McGowan’s decision to leave the company was unrelated to the strike.
