Woolworth CEO Roman Heini and the Unna-based non-food discounter are going their separate ways.
Heini announced his departure after “five intensive and formative years” on Tuesday on the career network Linkedin. He is leaving Woolworth as CEO and co-partner and will hand over operational responsibility to a “well-rehearsed management team” in the coming financial year.
During Heini’s tenure, the retailer expanded its Europe-wide branch network to 1,000 locations. In addition, expansion into markets such as Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia was pushed forward and the number of employees increased to 14,000.
New task for Heini
In the future, Heini will dedicate himself as a member of the board of directors to the operations of “one of the largest discount groups” in Southeast Asia. However, he has not yet provided any more detailed information about the company.
Before joining Woolworth at the end of 2020, he worked for the German food discounter Lidl as chairman of the US subsidiary. Previously, as Group Managing Director for the German food discounter Aldi, he was responsible for the United Kingdom and Ireland markets.
According to the company’s imprint, Woolworth’s current managing directors include Heini and Chief Property Officer Mike Adams, Chief Sales Officer Patrick Theus, Chief Financial Officer Oliver Penner and Chief Merchandise Officer Maik Wilcke. The management also includes HR boss and international operations officer Ninasichtermann, chief logistics officer Falko John, chief information officer Maksym Lymar as well as general property manager Petr Marek, general merchandise manager textiles/softlines Rocco Rausch and head of merchandise controlling Markus Wütig.