Mississauga, Ontario-headquartered Walmart Canada has announced the appointment of Dirk Van den Berghe as its new president and chief executive officer, effective August 1. He will report to Shelley Broader, who was recently promoted to president and ceo of Walmart’s EMEA region, which encompasses the retailer’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada.
Van den Berghe comes to Walmart from the Delhaize Group, an international global food retailer with operations in eight countries on three continents. Most recently he was ceo for the company’s Belgium and Luxembourg operations.
“We’re very pleased Dirk will be leading Walmart Canada,” said Ms. Broader. “His vast experience will allow us to strengthen our growing food business in Canada, and complements our highly-successful general merchandise operation.”
In addition to his extensive retail background, Van den Berghe has two decades of experience teaching international business at universities across Europe, Asia and the United States, and more than a decade of experience as an international trade commissioner for the Belgian government. He holds a PhD in Economics from Sofia University in Bulgaria and speaks seven languages.
Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 391 stores nationwide, serving more than 1.2 million customers on daily basis. Its online store, www.walmart.ca, is visited by 300,000 customers daily. With more a personnel pool exceeding 95,000 persons, the company is one of Canada’s largest employers and is ranked one of the country’s top 10 most influential brands.
