BevMo has named Josiah Knutsen, the company’s SVP of merchandising, as its new president and CEO. He succeeds Dimitri Haloulos, who has led the company over the past four years.
Knutsen joined BevMo in 2018 to run all aspects of the retailer’s merchandising for its beer, wine, spirits and other business lines. Before joining BevMo, he spent 17 years at Safeway and then the Albertsons Cos. following the mergers of those two companies in 2015. Just prior to leaving the company, he held the title of SVP of marketing and merchandising for the Northern California division, where he had direct P&L responsibility for nearly 300 stores.
“On behalf of the board and TowerBrook Capital Partners, I want to thank Dimitri for his exceptional leadership over the past four years. He has helped transform the company into an omni-channel ‘shopper first’ retailer while building a strong leadership team focused on sustainable growth,” said Cathy Stauffer, chairman of BevMo’s board. “Josiah is an innovative, results-driven leader with a relentless focus on understanding and fulfilling customer expectations. Over the past year, his insight and strategic vision have been highly impactful, and we are confident that as CEO, he will build on the company’s strong foundation and continue to drive innovation. As we head into the new year, we anticipate a seamless transition.”
Haloulos will return to the consumer packaged goods industry, where he started his career. During his tenure at BevMo, the company says he revamped the its purchasing, pricing, supply chain and e-commerce operations, while implementing a number of initiatives that enhanced the customer experience.
In succeeding Haloulos, BevMo says Knutsen will continue to build upon the company’s key strategic pillars to deliver exceptional value in a convenient and fun-to-shop environment.
“Since joining BevMo I have been inspired every single day by the passion, hard work and dedication of our store associates and service center employees. We are in position to make significant leaps forward over the next several years, and I am very excited to lead—and accelerate—that growth,” said Knutsen.
“My goal in joining this company four years ago was to advance our evolution as a digitally driven retailer that consistently exceeds customer expectations,” said Haloulos. “I’m extremely proud of the team’s many accomplishments.”
In addition, BevMo’s chief accounting officer and acting CFO, Denise Rowan, has been named CFO.
“A true BevMo veteran with over 20 years of service, Denise’s financial acumen and passionate leadership make her uniquely qualified to serve as our chief financial officer and lead us into the future, alongside Josiah as CEO,” said Stauffer.
BevMo, an alcoholic beverage specialty retailer based in Concord, California, has nearly 170 stores located throughout California, Arizona and Washington.
