Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent of Circle K convenience stores, named several new executives last month. Some, including its new food and marketing head and chief digital officer, made the list below. Others included a new senior vice president of operations and a global procurement director.
Here’s more information on Couche-Tard’s moves — which came amid the company’s shocking announcement that it’s looking to buy 7-Eleven — in addition to several other top-level changes from around the industry.
And here’s our executive roundup from July, in case you missed it.
Couche-Tard’s newest food, marketing and digital heads
Alimentation Couche-Tard named Mette Uglebjerg senior VP of global food and marketing last month.
In her new role, Uglebjerg oversees foodservice and marketing across Couche-Tard’s entire c-store network. Uglebjerg will be working closely with David Hall, VP of global foodservice, and Margaret Barron, VP of global marketing and brand.
Uglebjerg steps into her new position after leading Couche-Tard’s Circle K business units and operations in Denmark for the past four years. In January 2023, she took on the additional role of interim senior VP of operations. Uglebjerg joined Couche-Tard in 2012 when the retailer acquired Norwegian energy company Statoil Fuel & Retail, which Uglebjerg had been with for two decades.
Couche-Tard also last month named Erica Fortune as its new chief digital officer. Fortune joined the c-store retailer from automotive retailer Advance Auto Parts, where she was chief product management officer and senior VP of e-commerce.
Fortune also spent eight years at home discount retailer Big Lots, where she drove its omnichannel transformation and built its e-commerce platform as the company’s VP of e-commerce and director of e-commerce merchandising.
Refuel shuffles VP roster
Refuel Operating Co. promoted four leaders to its executive team in recent weeks. Those included Colleen Barrett, VP of real estate and development; Kayla Hall, VP of human resources; Weston Pate, VP of loss prevention and risk management; and David Pelton Jr., VP of facilities and environmental.
Barrett and Pate joined Refuel in 2021, while Hall and Pelton did so in 2022. Their promotions come as Refuel continues expanding in its home state of South Carolina, as well as North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas.
Parkland taps former Shell supply chain exec
Parkland Corporation named Rick Marriner as its first VP of trading. He focuses on integrating and optimizing Parkland’s supply and trading operations across the company’s entire 26-country footprint. Additionally, he oversees Parkland’s commodity trading operations and works to scale the company’s fundamentals and analytics capabilities.
Marriner is based in Houston and reports to Tyler Rimbey, Parkland’s senior VP of supply and trading.
Marriner brings more than 30 years of supply chain experience in the oil, gas and transportation industries, including 16 years at Shell. He joined the oil and gas giant in 1999 as an oil tanker and barge charterer, and worked his way up, eventually becoming a shareholder representative and joint venture portfolio manager.
Pilot builds out energy team
Pilot Company hired Grant Leathers as VP of energy technology, a brand-new position at the company. In his role, Leathers provides leadership for every team within the Pilot Energy business, a company spokesperson said.
Leather joined Pilot after spending the past five years as chief information officer for wholesaler SC Fuels, which Pilot acquired in 2021. Leathers has held technology leadership roles with companies across several industries, such as fitness service Beachbody, credit reporting firm Experian Consumer Services, vehicle valuation company Kelley Blue Book and automotive companies AutoCentro and Autobytel.
