Aditya Birla Retail appoints Vishak Kumar new CEO

For the second time in 18 months, Aditya Birla Retail is trying to restructure

its loss making retail business. The company has appointed Vishak Kumar, currently Head of the supermarket business and an Aditya Birla Group old-timer, who joined as a management trainee in 1995, as common Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for its both -- hypermarket and supermarket retail chains. The company also reshuffled its top management in order to streamline its operations.

The company has also announced the exit of Russell Berman, CEO of the hypermarket business after his seven-year contract with the company comes to an end. Aditya Birla Retail currently has over 2 million sq. ft. of retail space in more than 60 cities. It runs more than 500 supermarkets and 16 hypermarkets across the country.

The buying and merchandising function has also been restructured, with Sumit Chandna and Karandeep Jaiya taking up roles of Chief Merchandising Officers for the food and grocery segment and the lifestyle segment, respectively. In other moves, Girdhar Chitlangia, another group veteran, was elevated as Chief Commercial Officer and Kunal Dhawan was named Chief Marketing Officer in addition to his role as Head of the private label business. Gurpreet Sandhu, who was heading the staples division in the supermarkets business, has moved into the role of Supply Chain Head at the supermarket business of the company.