Table of Contents
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Ian McLeod, who is credited with revitalizing the Coles Supermarkets chain in Australia, has been hired to lead Bi-Lo Holdings LLC.
Ian McLeod, who is credited with revitalizing the Coles Supermarkets chain in Australia, has been hired to lead Bi-Lo Holdings LLC.
McLeod will become Bi-Lo’s president and chief executive officer on March 2, succeeding Randall Onstead, who announced last month that he was stepping down after seven years at the helm of Bi-Lo, which is owned by Texas investment firm Lone Star Funds.
"Ian is a proven leader with more than 30 years of expertise and a strong track record of driving profitable growth," Bi-Lo’s board said last month in announcing the hire. "In his time running over 2,200 Coles food, liquor and convenience stores — which employ 100,000 associates across Australia and include over 760 full-service supermarkets — he led a major turnaround in that business, improving the quality and value of products as well as the service and store standards offered to customers."
McLeod was born in Scotland and spent most of his career in England. He served as chief executive of British retailer Halford Group and spent two decades at supermarket chain Asda, where he was director of stores.
McLeod also served on the board at Walmart Germany, and he has been involved in running professional soccer teams in England and Australia. McLeod completed a management program at Harvard Business School in 1999. He moved to Australia in 2008 to lead Coles, which has 760 supermarkets, 800 liquor stores and 640 gas station/convenience stores.
"I am excited to move to the United States and join the team at this important time," McLeod said. "I look forward to leveraging my experience to help build upon Bi-Lo Holdings’ reputation by serving our loyal customers even better, attracting new customers through great quality and value, and further strengthening our competitive position within the industry."
Under Onstead’s tenure, Bi-Lo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 and emerged from bankruptcy the following year. In 2011 it acquired Winn-Dixie, a grocery chain more than twice Bi-Lo’s size. In 2012, Bi-Lo relocated its headquarters from Greenville, S.C., to Winn-Dixie’s base in Jacksonville, Fla.
In 2013, Bi-Lo announced it would go public via an initial public offering, although those plans were later withdrawn. Last year, it acquired 165 grocery stores from the Delhaize Group. Bi-Lo now has 830 stores in eight states in the Southeast.
