Rona has hired retail industry veteran Alain Brisebois to be its chief commercial officer.
Brisebois, who will also hold the title of executive vice-president at Rona, is being brought on board to improve the struggling home improvement retailer’s operational efficiency and to develop synergy between its purchasing, merchandising, procurement and marketing activities.
A 30-year veteran of the retail industry, Brisebois previously worked at Alimentation Couche-Tard, where he served as vice-president of purchasing and supply chain before moving up to senior vice-president of operations in 2010.
He has also held key positions at Metro Inc., including senior vice-president of the Ontario division.
“I’m happy to rely on Alain’s extensive experience in retail to help us review our business processes, improve our efficiency and offer our customers a better shopping experience,” Rona president and chief executive Robert Sawyer said in announcing the move on Friday.
Rona is the largest Canadian distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and gardening products with a network of more than 800 corporate, franchise and affiliate retail stores and almost 28,000 employees.
However, the company has been struggling to improve poor operating results in recent years as it faces tough competition from other big retailers, including Home Depot and Lowe’s.
