LAVAL, Quebec -- Recent management changes at Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. have put new faces in charges of about half of the company's regional business units and established a couple of new positions, as well.
According to the Laval, Quebec-based company's website, the following appointments took effect beginning in January 2011: Bill Bartolomeo was named vice president of operations Great Lakes. Prior to assuming his current position, Bartolomeo was the director of marketing for the Great Lakes region since March 2007. He has held various roles throughout his 13 years [image-nocss] with Circle K, including project manager, category manager, merchandise manager, retail development manager and national director of car wash. Before joining Circle K in 1994, he worked for 7-Eleven Inc. stores for more than 15 years. Michel Bernard was named to the position of vice president of special assignments. He was formerly vice president of operations for the Eastern Canada region since December 2005. Bernard has served in a variety of operations and marketing-related positions during his 33-year supermarket and convenience store career. He joined Couche-Tard in 1987 and subsequently departed in 1994 to pursue other opportunities, including as director of convenience retailing for Petro-Canada. Bernard returned to Couche-Tard in 1999 as senior director of marketing and merchandising and vice president of operations for the U.S. Midwest region from 2003 to 2005. Robert G. Campau was named a vice president of special assignments. Campeau was formerly vice president of administration in the United States since May 2008 and vice president of operations for the U.S. Southeast region from 2003 to 2008. Campau began his nearly 30-year convenience-industry career with the Southland Corp. (7-Eleven) in 1974. Since joining Circle K in 1979, Campau has held a variety of positions, including zone manager, division manager, director of operations, franchise support services, director of organizational development, director of operations and representative of the office of the president. Prior to December 2003, he served as manager of retail support for ConocoPhillips. As previously reported exclusively in CSP Daily News, Joe Chiovera is now vice president of foodservice, joining Couche-Tard for the first time. He started his career in fresh food in 1992 at Marriott and worked his way up at Exxon Mobil Corp. and Sheetz Inc., to senior director of fresh foods, business system support at 7-Eleven until his appointment at Couche-Tard. Kathy Cunnington was appointed to the position of vice president of benchmarking and administration. Cunnington was formerly director of finance, Midwest shared services. She has been with Couche-Tard since 2003 and has 15 years of experience in the c-store industry. Since 2003, she has held various positions as assistant controller, operations accounting manager, finance manager, director of accounting, director of finance and director of finance and IT. Michel Doucet was appointed vice president of Operations for the Quebec West Canada region. He joined the company a year ago as director of national procurement Canada to become recently director of operations, Eastern Canada. He has over 30 years of experience in the sales and distribution fields, among them 12 years on a senior management level for a major manufacturer. Geoffrey C. Haxel was appointed senior vice president of operations. He was formerly vice president of operations, U.S. Arizona region since December 2003. Haxel served in a variety of operations and marketing positions since joining Circle K in 1988. He began his career as a district manager trainee and also held the positions of sales manager, category manager and division manager. Prior to December 2003, Haxel served as Circle K's Arizona region manager with responsibility for more than 600 sites in a four-state territory. Pierre Peters was appointed vice president of operations for the Quebec East and Atlantic Canada regions. Peters has been with Couche-Tard since 1987. Over his 24-year with the company, he fulfilled multiple various duties and mandates. Most recently, he was director of operations for the Eastern Division. Paul Rodriguez was appointed vice president of operations for Arizona. Rodriguez was formerly vice president of operations for the Great Lakes division since February 2007. He joined Couche-Tard in 2003 when the company acquired Circle K. He served in a variety of operations and marketing positions since joining Circle K in 1988. He has more than 20 years of experience in the retail industry. Dennis Tewell was appointed vice president, Worldwide Franchise as he joined Couche-Tard in January. In 1978, Tewell began his almost 33-year convenience-industry career with Conna Corp. He has served companies, such as Conna Corp., BP, Dairy Mart, Swifty Serve and most recently CVS/Caremark, in a variety of marketing and operations positions. Tewell replaces Rick Hamlin, who announced his retirement in December.
Rounding out Couche-Tard's regional leadership are standing executives: Alain Brisebois, senior vice president of operations. Jason Broussard, vice president of operations, U.S. Gulf region. Darrell Davis, vice president of operations, U.S. Midwest region. Matt McCure, vice president of operations, U.S. Southeast region. Kelly McGuire, vice president of operations, Western Canada (appointed September 2010). Butch Seber, vice president of development. Mike Struble, vice president of operations, Florida. Tim Tourek, vice president of operations, West Coast region. Kim Trowbridge, vice president of operations, Central Canada. Lou Valdes, vice president of operations, U.S. Southwest region.
Couche-Tard, based in Laval, Quebec, operates a network of 5,904 c-stores. The stores are operated by 12 business units, including nine in the United States covering 42 states and the District of Columbia, and three in Canada covering all 10 provinces.
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