9 notable c-store executive changes from April
April was a crowded month for changes at the highest levels of many c-store retailers, including two CEO changes. So many new names moved into roles at the highest levels of the convenience industry, in fact, that this article won't explore board moves from BP, Parkland Corp. and Seven & i.
Below are details on nine executive moves C-Store Dive covered in April. And here's the executive roundup from March, in case you missed it.
EG Group named Russell Colaco as its new CEO on April 25. A week later, it also announced Colaco would also take over as leader of its U.S. arm, EG America, which operates over 1,500 convenience stores across 30 states.
Colaco joined EG Group last summer as CFO and previously served as CFO at food companies Foster Farms and JBS Foods International. He will replace co-founder Mohsin Issa at the top of EG Group and John Carey in the U.S. Issa will remain on EG Group's board as a non-executive director. Carey will transition to a senior advisor role.
EG Group has begun searching for a new CFO.
Parkland's President and CEO Bob Espey announced he is stepping down after experiencing years of conflict with major shareholders. Espey has been at the helm of Parkland — which has about 200 company-operated c-stores in the U.S. — since 2011.
Although Parkland's board of directors has formed a CEO search committee made of independent directors to select his replacement, that may never materialize if the company's $9 billion sale to Sunoco is approved next month.
Parkland also last month shifted the roles of three VPs as part of an ongoing mission to unify the company's U.S. and Canadian operations. It named Elliott Collyer as VP of growth and development in North America, Andrea Dafoe as VP of services and programs in North America and Alison Manning as VP people and culture in North America.
Terri Micklin, president of GetGo Café + Markets, the c-store arm of supermarket chain Giant Eagle, left the company, Micklin announced via email.
GetGo's Vice President of Operations Mike Maraldo 'will be leading the future business unit' after her departure, according to the email and as confirmed by a company spokesperson.
Maraldo has been with Giant Eagle for nearly three decades, according to his LinkedIn bio. He became GetGo's VP of operations in 2015 and held several regional director and management positions with the retailer before that.
Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent of Circle K convenience stores, named Gary Brant as VP of North America foodservice and QSRs.
Brant has worked in the convenience industry for more than 25 years, including in training and sales roles with Speedway and several operations leadership roles with Holiday Companies, parent of the Holiday Stationstores banner.
He joined Couche-Tard when the Canadian retailer acquired Holiday in 2017, and had been VP of operations for the Circle K Northern Tier business unit until his most recent promotion.
Couche-Tard has an extensive foodservice program, including an array of QSR partnerships and an in-house food program that's currently in nearly 6,000 stores.
Global Partners named Kristin Seabrook as its next chief legal officer. She assumed the role of senior VP of legal transformation in April and will take over the top legal role on Jan. 1, 2026.
Seabrook joins Global Partners after spending nearly two decades with travel center company Pilot Company, where she was most recently chief legal counsel and secretary.
She is replacing Sean Geary, who will act as a senior legal advisor to ensure a smooth transition.
Majors Management named Paul Titley as its new vice president of mergers and integration.
Titley first joined Majors in November 2023 as VP of retail operations — a role he held until this promotion, according to his LinkedIn bio. Before that, he worked for nearly a decade for MAPCO Express, a convenience retailer that Majors bought in 2023, starting as a district manager for the company in 2014.
He worked his way up through a series of manager and director roles, ending as director of operations.
Convenience and tobacco retailer The Cigarette Store, which does business as Smoker Friendly, named Tom Allen as its new VP of operations.
Allen joined Smoker Friendly as retail operations manager in 2016, later becoming a region director for the company's western business.
Prior to joining the Boulder, Colorado-based retailer, he spent over a decade as an officer in the U.S. Army.
Applegreen named Anil Rao as U.S. chief transformation officer.
Before joining the Dublin-based c-store and travel plaza operator, Rao spent four years in several leadership roles with Pittsburgh-based leisure park operator Palace Entertainment, including vice president of food and beverage, interim chief operating officer and SVP of revenue and business development, according to his LinkedIn bio.
Giulia Chierchia, executive vice president of strategy, sustainability and ventures for BP, will leave the company on June 1 to pursue other opportunities, a spokesperson said.
She has spearheaded the company's strategy and sustainability agenda, as well as overseen its venturing investments business, which supported BP's net zero mission.
BP will not fill Chierchia's position.
Chierchia's departure and BP's termination of her position follow the oil giant's February announcement that it's refocusing its strategy around its upstream and downstream oil and gas business.
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