Galen Weston is planning to step aside as president and CEO of Loblaw, picking Danish retail executive Per Bank as his replacement.

Bank is currently CEO of European retail chain Salling Group A/S, which owns more than 1,700 supermarket and grocery stores. It primarily operates in Denmark, where it is the country’s largest retailer, though the flagship Netto banner also has stores in Germany and Poland.

Upon commencing the role of president and CEO in Q1 2024, Bank will be responsible for Loblaw’s day-to-day operations and report to the company’s board.

The appointment follows a “proper global search” first initiated in August 2022 in anticipation of chief operating officer Robert Sawyer’s planned retirement at the end of this year.

Weston will remain chair of the Loblaw board of directors, as well as chair of the board of directors and CEO of parent company George Weston Limited, where he will play an active role setting the strategy for the group.

In a conference call held Tuesday morning, Weston said he is not leaving the company but “stepping back into his natural role.” Richard Dufresne will continue as Loblaw’s CFO, as well as president and CFO of George Weston Limited. Sawyer will remain as COO until the end of the year, helping to set up a transition for Bank.

According to Weston, with Salling Group, Bank oversees a leading grocer with multiple banners, a top discount chain, compelling ecommerce and private label, all aspects that have “remarkable parallels with Loblaw.”

Bank has deep retail knowledge and pedigree, Sawyer added, as well as “extensive experience working for a controlling family and understands what that relationship needs to be.” Secondly, Bank has been leading an organization with an outsized cultural and financial place inside a relatively small country.

As chief executive of the country’s largest grocery company – as well as the star of many of its ads – Weston has been a highly visible target for Canadians frustrated by soaring inflation. The fact that Loblaw’s earnings and Weston’s own compensation have continued to grow despite shoppers facing rising costs has led to accusations of “greedflation,” which were not stemmed when Weston and other grocery CEOs were called to testify in front of a government committee investigating rising food prices last month.