Alimentation Couche-Tard CEO to Retire
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. President and CEO Brian Hannasch will retire in September. Current Chief Operating Officer Alex Miller has been chosen to replace Hannasch.
The Quebec-based convenience store chain, which includes Circle K stores, announced the news during a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 results.
"On behalf of the board of directors of Couche-Tard, I want to congratulate Alex Miller on his appointment to be our next leader," Alain Bouchard, founder and executive chairman of Couche-Tard's board of directors, said in a media release. "Couche-Tard has only had two CEOs during its almost 45-year history, and we take this appointment extremely seriously. The board and I have been planning for an orderly and seamless succession for several years, and we have carefully assessed the process and possible candidates."
Hannasch has been with Couche-Tard for 10 years and is the 45-year-old company's second CEO. Miller has more than 25 years of management experience in the industry.
Miller joined Couche-Tard in 2012 as director of fuels, real estate and facilities, moving into increasingly progressive roles across the company.
He was promoted to the newly created COO position in January 2023. At the time, Miller's role was to oversee the company's North America, Europe and Asia operations, including its food program, merchandise procurement and supply chain activities.
Prior to that, Miller had been the company's executive vice president, operations North America and global commercial optimization.
"By bringing together all the operational reporting lines under the chief operating officer, the regional teams can more easily align operations to extract further synergies and learnings at the core of our business," Hannasch said at the time. "Alex is uniquely positioned to take on this new role with his impressive leadership experience in convenience and fuel operations as well as his extensive contributions growing the business across all our geographies."
While Hannasch's retirement is effective Sept. 6, he is staying on as a special adviser to Miller and will serve as executive chair of the company's board.