Swedish retailer Axfood has appointed Simone Margulies as its next chief executive officer and president, effective 15 August 2024.
Currently, she serves as the managing director of Axfood subsidiary Hemköpskedjan AB, which operates the Hemköp and Tempo chains in Sweden.
Margulies succeeds Klas Balkow, who has decided to conclude his executive career with the company.
An Experienced Professional
Margulies is an experienced professional with more than 18 years of experience in food retail.
She has been part of the Axfood team for eight years, and has served as a member of the company's executive committee for four years.
Before stepping in as the managing director of Hemköpskedjan AB, she was the deputy CEO of the company's purchasing and logistics company, Dagab.
Axfood’s chair of the board, Thomas Ekman said, "Simone is a passionate and engaged leader with a strong commercial drive and a focus on employees, customers and the business.
"She has extensive experience in food retail and knows Axfood well after her eight years in the group. She is the right person to continue to develop Axfood for the future, together with the team."
Management Transition
Axfood’s current president and CEO Klas Balkow will remain with the company until the end of the year to ensure a smooth handover.
The company has initiated the process of recruiting a successor for Margulies as managing director of Hemköpskedjan.
Commenting on her new role, Margulies stated, "It is with great joy and humbleness that I take on the role as president and CEO of Axfood.
"There is so much capacity within the entire Axfood Group, and my role will be to create the necessary conditions for the organisation to continue to develop the business and deliver on the large development programmes that we are carrying out. I am very much looking forward to being a part of and writing the next chapter in Axfood’s history."
