Ahold announced yesterday that they’ve filled their EVP slot in marketing with an existing employee from…you guessed it, Giant of Carlisle. Erik Keptner will be taking over one portion of the job held by Jeff Martin, who suddenly resigned in early June 2012. We ran a piece on that back in June and the company still hasn’t given an explanation for the Martin suddenly vacating the seat. Just before his resignation, Martin received an award as “Marketer of the Year” from industry-publication Supermarket News. While this may still be a mystery, the one thing that’s crystal clear to us is that Giant of Landover is often forgotten in organizational decision-making. We are rarely mentioned by Ahold in their shareholder’s meetings or quarterly reports yet we remain one of the most profitable banners in the U.S.
Martin’s position was split into two EVP roles, perhaps to prevent the crippling effect that likely occurred earlier this year when he left the company. The company has yet to fill their open EVP position for merchandising but we are interested to see who they choose.
We wish EVP Keptner luck in his new role. He certainly has his work cut out for him and let’s hope he keeps the identity of Giant of Landover in mind as he packages the Ahold USA brand.
