Ahold appoints James McCann as COO of Ahold USA

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands — Royal Ahold has appointed a new COO for its U.S. subsidiary, the company said Thursday.

Ahold, based in the Netherlands, announced that it had appointed James McCann as COO of Ahold USA, effective Jan. 1, 2013, replacing Carl Schlicker, who has announced his retirement. McCann, a 43-year-old native of the United Kingdom and currently Ahold's chief commercial and development officer who will continue as a member of the company's corporate board, began working for Ahold in 2011.

"I am very pleased that we have a strong leader for Ahold USA from within our own organization," Ahold CEO Dick Boer said. "Since his start with Ahold, James has focused on strengthening our e-commerce proposition and customer loyalty programs as part of the company's robust growth strategy that was launched last year and is now being implemented. This appointment is a natural step for James. With his international experience in leading roles at global retailers, James is very well-qualified to take on this important role within Ahold."

McCann has previoiusly worked for European retailers like Tesco, Carrefour France and Sainsbury's.