Germany's REWE Group has named Hanno Rieger as the new chief executive officer of REWE Dortmund following current CEO Andreas Schmidt's (pictured) decision not to renew his contract and leave the company at the end of 2023.
Currently, Rieger serves as the chief executive of REWE Region West.
Stefan Lenk, chairman of the supervisory board of REWE Group, stated, "Andreas Schmidt engaged REWE Dortmund as CEO and successfully led it through turbulent times. Last but not least, he navigated the company and team through a variety of external and internal changes with a steady hand.
"We respect his decision not to extend his contract further, thank him very much for everything he has achieved for REWE Dortmund, and wish him all the best for the future."
A Company Veteran
Schmidt is a company veteran, who has worked for the German retail group for 46 years.
He began training in 1977 as a retail salesman at Petz Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs GmbH, Knowledge.
In 1984, he moved to REWE Markt GmbH and worked as store manager until 1988.
Between 1988 to 2001, he served as sales manager in the wholesale division for several REWE trading companies and became wholesale manager in the north region in 2003.
He then moved to REWE Region Südwest as head of wholesale, where he took over management of the division in 2006.
Until 2014, he was based in Wiesloch and served as head of REWE Region Südwest and a member of the national management of REWE Germany.
In 2014, he joined the board of directors of REWE Dortmund and assumed the role of chairman of the board after the departure of board spokesperson, Heinz-Bert Zander.
Lionel Souque, CEO of the REWE Group, commented, "Andreas Schmidt and I have been working together in a spirit of trust and partnership for 15 years. A heartfelt thank you to him for devoting his entire successful professional life to our company.
"He has accompanied us in various managerial positions over decades, always keeping an eye on the wellbeing of the company and making a major contribution to the success of his REWE.”
Lars Klein
Elsewhere, REWE has named Lars Klein, former Aldi Süd managing director of customer interaction and buying, as Rieger's successor.
He will report to Peter Maly, member of the management board of REWE Group and COO of REWE.
Klein worked in various management roles in sales before moving to central purchasing at Aldi Süd.
As managing director of buying, he was responsible for central purchasing at Aldi Süd, and as managing director, he was responsible for customer interaction marketing, communications, sustainability and e-commerce.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
