Changes within Asda's general merchandise division

Asda has shaken up its general merchandise division as Andrew Moore, who replaced Charles Redfield as CMO in May, starts to make his presence felt.

Commercial director John McDowell will move to Walmart’s head office in Bentonville as director for merchandise leverage. McDowell will continue to report to Moore, and will bridge the gap between Asda House and Bentonville as Asda’s GM teams look to take advantage of Walmart’s buying power.

In light of McDowell’s move, Moore has split Asda’s GM business into two areas: ‘Hard Lines’, which involve buying and sourcing of brands, and ‘Soft Lines’, which focus on the design and development of Asda’s products.

Current commercial director for home and seasonal Louise Hoste will head up the ‘Hard Lines’ business as commercial director for GM Hard Lines, while current George brand director Fiona Lambert will expand her role to become brand director for George and GM Soft Lines.

Meanwhile, Nick Jones will increase his remit within George and take responsibility for merchandise planning and sourcing for Soft Lines as commercial director - George and GM Soft Lines.

“These are exciting times for our GM business,” said Andrew Moore. “I’m very confident that the structure we are putting in place will allow us to build even more on the growing momentum of the past few months. There are so many opportunities for us to go after within GM and I’m confident we have all the right talent and expertise to help us win.”

Source : James Halliwell – The Grocer
www.thegrocer.co.uk/companies/supermarkets/asda/asda-shakes-up-general-merchandising-division/233666.article