Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. has appointed Ramesh Chikkala to the newly created position of EVP and chief operations officer, effective Jan. 22.
This appointment marks a milestone as Grocery Outlet continues to scale its business and add additional supply chain and business technology experience to its organization. In his new role, Chikkala will lead the company’s supply chain and business technology functions, reporting to RJ Sheedy, president and CEO.
“Ramesh is an ideal fit for this new position with his extensive leadership and operating experience in both supply chain and technology,” Sheedy said.
“He has deep expertise in end-to-end supply chain transformation and business digitalization. This position represents continued investment in our business operations, which is critical to delivering our value proposition and supporting future revenue and profit growth.”
Chikkala commented, “I am thrilled to join Grocery Outlet to help scale the business and deliver on the mission of ‘Touching Lives for the Better.’ I am excited to work with an incredible team and with Grocery Outlet’s Independent Operators to transform and further optimize our supply chain and business technology infrastructure to support long-term growth.”
Chikkala’s experience in retail and operations organizations includes 14 years at Walmart as SVP of global supply chain (omnichannel) and food manufacturing. In that role, he led its global supply chain and manufacturing operations, and as SVP of information technology, he led the company’s global technology organization. From 2001-06, he was VP and regional VP of store operations for Family Dollar Stores. He has also worked for Gap Inc. and Food Lion in a mix of store operations, supply chain and technology roles.
Most recently, he has been a senior advisor to A.T. Kearney Inc. in its operations/supply chain/technology and consumer industry and retail practice, while also teaching and serving on several company boards, including Hibbett Inc.
About Grocery Outlet
Based in Emeryville, California, Grocery Outlet has more than 460 independently-operated stores in California, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Nevada, Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio.
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