If one word were to define the future CEO of Ahold Delhaize, it would be "speed." A native of Saint-Malo and a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, he learned the ropes at Carrefour. Starting as an intern at a Gironde hypermarket, he climbed the ranks to eventually manage a thousand stores.
As the group expanded internationally, he was appointed President of Carrefour China. It was there that Thierry Garnier refined his strategy. Faced with the boom in e-commerce, he realized that a retailer's strength lies in the physical footprint of its points of sale. After seven years in Asia, he joined Tesco's board before taking charge of Kingfisher in 2019, the European DIY leader better known in France through its Castorama and Brico Dépôt brands.
The CEO's management of the Covid crisis allowed Kingfisher to scale its click-and-collect strategy. "In-store picking and rapid delivery are among the major trends in e-commerce," he explained to BFM Business in 2020.
Today, Ahold Delhaize praises a leader capable of "driving transformations while balancing group scale with a strong local presence." With 22 years working at Carrefour and a solid international expertise, having learned Mandarin at the age of 47—he appears the natural choice for the Belgian group, which defines itself as a "family of great local brands." Thierry Garnier is set to succeed Frans Muller in 2027, subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting.
