Carrefour SA (Paris), Europe’s largest retailer, has replaced chairman and ceo Daniel Bernard. Replacing him will be Luc Vandevelde, a former chairman of Marks & Spencer Group p.l.c. (London), and José Luis Durán, Carrefour’s cfo.
Vandevelde, who has been on the Carrefour board (representing the Halley family, its biggest shareholder) since last year, will serve as non-executive chairman. Durán was named ceo.
Carrefour had disappointing results last year, particularly in France, where its superstores face tough competition. Bernard had headed Carrefour for more than a decade, turning the company into the world’s second-largest retailer after it bought another food retailer, Promodès, in 1999. With intense competition, Carrefour lost market share in the last year but recovered a bit in the fourth quarter.