Moving on to new challenges is a part of life in the global corporate world. The most recent movement is that of Gregg Mowins who was heading sourcing operations of Ikeas India office at Gurgaon as CEO South Asia till March 2012 to supermarket chain Åhléns, where he will take up the position of CEO. Mowins had been working with Ikea since 1988 and took position as head of India office in March 2010. According to an official release, Gregg Mowins takes over as CEO of Åhléns in August 2012, till then Ann-Christin Edling Jonsson, Sales Manager for Åhléns will continue in the role as acting President.
Mowins is very upbeat of his new assignment. “Åhléns is a very strong brand with a broad position in the Swedish and Norwegian markets. I hope my experience can help to further strengthen Åhléns customer offer and thus its market position. I look forward to start working together with all Åhléns skilled employees,” says Mowins.
Since Mowins departure, Jessica Anderen, Trading Area Manager – South Asia, is looking after the operations at the India office. Jessica has been with Ikea since 1989, stationed at various offices of Ikea in Sweden, Hong Kong and Australia; she joined the India office in February 2011 and if industry sources are to be believed, she might take over as head of the India operations. The Ikea India office is sourcing goods worth US $ 900 million and has been growing at 20% YoY.
Sustainability’ is a key agenda for the Swedish retail giant, which has operations in 41 countries across the globe out of which 29 are Trading Service Offices in 25 countries, 27 distribution centres and 11 customer distribution centres in 16 countries. With an expansive network of suppliers, Ikea interacts with over 1,074 vendors in 55 countries to source a huge range of products that number approximately 9,500 different categories. The India office is an important source base for the retailer and is now also looking forward to increasing non-textile business from Indian subcontinent along with the textiles business.
