As of December, the top manager will also become a general partner of the family business Schwarz-Gruppe.
(Photo: Schwarz Group)
Dusseldorf The Schwarz Group, Europe’s largest retail group, has completed the long-awaited change in leadership. As the company announced, Gerd Chrzanowski will take over the position of general partner of the group from owner Dieter Schwarz on December 1st. This is the top management position in the company to which the discount chains Lidl and Kaufland belong.
This brings an end to a bitter power struggle at the top of the family company. For years, Klaus Gehrig had run the company as a confidante of the owner. Despite his 73 years of age, he had repeatedly resisted handing over to a successor. He also wanted to prevent Chrzanowski to the last.
But in July there was a dispute with owner Schwarz about this. Until recently, Gehrig had tried to get his confidante, only 30-year-old Melanie Köhler, into position as an alternative to Chrzanowski. Ultimately in vain: Gehrig had to leave the company, and Chrzanowski’s way to the top was free.
In order to ensure a smooth transition and bring calm to the company, Dieter Schwarz had initially taken over the office of general partner himself. Now he is withdrawing again, and Chrzanowski, who is already chairman of the board, is given complete management power.
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This means that the second important personnel decision can also be made in the company. Also at the beginning of December, Kenneth McGrath, who was appointed to the Lidl board in July, will be the new Lidl boss. Chrzanowski previously held this office in personal union.
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McGrath’s promotion was also planned well in advance. “The international trade expert and manager with many years of experience has been intensively prepared for his future tasks by Gerd Chrzanowski over the past few weeks,” announced the Schwarz Group.
New black boss relies on teamwork in management
Chrzanowski completes his future management team with the new Lidl boss. Before that, Carsten Theurer had already succeeded Melanie Köhler as the new CEO of Schwarz Services, making him de facto the group’s chief financial officer.
After Gehrig’s departure, Chrzanowski had also strengthened other executives and made it clear that he relies on teamwork in leadership. The heads of the Waste Management divisions, Thomas Kyriakis, Digitization, Rolf Schumann, Production, Jörg Aldenkott, and IT, Christian Müller, were each appointed CEO of their divisions.
The 50-year-old Chrzanowski has been working in various positions for the Schwarz Group for over 20 years. He wants to modernize the trading company in the future and also develop new business areas such as waste disposal. The digitization of the retailer is also one of his major challenges.
The new Lidl boss McGrath is an important support for him. Before he came to the Schwarz Group, he had managed the US discounter Save-A-Lot and thus brought an outside perspective with him.
The 46-year-old had already relied on technology and digitization there. In cooperation with the start-up Instacart, Save-A-Lot offers a pick-up and delivery service in stores. A dedicated app and customer loyalty program are being introduced.
This is exactly what McGrath should have put on Dieter Schwarz and Gerd Chrzanowski’s radar. Like most other German discounters, Lidl also has some catching up to do when it comes to digitizing its business. Lidl recently introduced its own app for customer loyalty with Lidl Plus.
More: How the new head of the Schwarz Group reinvents the discount principle