Dive Brief:

• Lidl US CEO Michal Lagunionek will step down in four weeks from the role that he has held since April 2021, the German publication Lebensmittel Zeitung reported Monday.
• Joel Rampoldt, partner and managing director of consulting firm AlixPartners, will replace Lagunionek in the top spot, per an internal memo obtained by the news outlet, making him the fifth person to assume the top role since the discounter started its U.S. operations in 2013.
• Rampoldt is filling the top spot in Lidl US without any prior experience at Lidl, Lebensmittel Zeitung noted. Lidl has a reputation for appointing internal execs to lead country operations.

Dive Insight:

In the internal memo, Lidl CEO Kenneth McGrath said that the appointment of Rampoldt — an American — is an important step on the way to firmly establishing the discounter in the U.S., per Lebensmittel Zeitung. 

The appointment of an outside hire with no prior executive experience to lead Lidl US is highly unusual for the grocery company, the publication noted. Lidl often moves executives around from one country to another in order to improve results and maintain the consistency of its operations.

At AlixPartners, Rampoldt focuses on sales and margin improvements for retailers by working on pricing, promotions, assortment, localization, freshness and vendor negotiations, according to Rampoldt’s company bio. Rampoldt joined AlixPartners in 2018. 

Prior to AlixPartners, Rampoldt worked at the consulting firms KPMG and Oliver Wyman and also held leadership roles at marketing services company Digitas and AT&T. 

Lagunionek will train Rampoldt before returning to Europe, according to Lebensmittel Zeitung. Lidl US did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Grocery Dive has also reached out to Lidl’s US parent company, Schwarz Group, as well as AlixPartners for confirmation and further information. 

Before being tapped for the CEO role, Lagunionek was head of the retailer’s Poland division and had 20 years of experience with Lidl. Lagunionek replaced Johannes Fieber, who took the reins at Lidl in 2018 after the discounter experienced an underwhelming U.S. debut. Lidl’s U.S. division has also seen a revolving door of executive appointments in its chairman position.

Lidl, which began operating in the U.S. in 2013 and opened its first stores in 2017, has faced steep competition from traditional grocers as well as discount rival Aldi, which has operated in the U.S. since the 1970s and is rapidly growing its store fleet across the country. In the months following its U.S. opening, Lidl made numerous changes to its store designs and site selection strategy, underscoring the strategic errors it had made in trying to shake up the market.

Lidl’s U.S. business has seen a string of executive changes and reported store closures recently. At the start of this year, Lidl US laid off around 200 corporate employees as part of a corporate restructuring effort to improve its financial standing.