Chris Van Wettere, General Manager of Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt Lowest Prices, says he will retire on 31 March. COO food retail Jo Willemyns will succeed him, on top of his current functions.
Succession assured
“The customer has been my greatest drive throughout my career. Liking your customers is what retail is all about”, Van Wettere says. The General Manager started life at the company in 1983 as an assistant salesman in the Colruyt store in Waregem (West-Flanders) and quickly rose to become a manager in shops in the same area (Mouscron, Kortrijk and Menin). Afterwards, he became a sales promoter, regional manager, department manager and director of non-food at Colruyt Lowest Prices. In 2003, he switched to manage two chains at Colruyt Group that were still in their infancy at the time: OKay and Bio-Planet. Since 2012, he has been part of the executive committee at Colruyt Group. In 2015, Chris Van Wettere returned to Colruyt Lowest Prices.
After Van Wettere’s retirement, Jo Willemyns will combine the roles of General Manager Colruyt Lowest Prices and COO Food Retail. This is an efficient solution as Colruyt Lowest Prices is an important lever for achieving Colruyt Group’s strategic objectives, the retailer clarifies. In the coming weeks, Willemyns and Van Wettere will work intensively together to ensure a proper succession.
