Big reorganization of Amazon's physical stores and Whole Foods business
Amazon's physical-stores unit announced a big reorganization recently.
It's the first major reshuffle under Tony Hoggett, who joined this year after 30 years at Tesco.
VP Dilip Kumar, who oversaw the Just Walk Out cashierless tech, is moving to AWS.
Amazon's physical-stores business, including Fresh grocery and Whole Foods Market, is undergoing a major reorganization to streamline operations under a new leader who joined earlier this year.
Tony Hoggett, Amazon's new senior vice president of physical stores and specialty fulfillment, announced the changes recently, an internal email obtained by Insider showed. The plan includes high-profile departures and a call for better collaboration between teams. It's the first major personal stamp Hoggett has put on his organization, which now reports up to Amazon retail CEO Doug Herrington.
The most notable change is the transfer of Dilip Kumar, the vice president of physical retail and technology, to the Amazon Web Services cloud unit. Kumar, who oversaw the development of Amazon's Just Walk Out cashierless technology and an array of other in-store services, such as the smart Dash Cart, will take on an "expanded role" at AWS and report directly to Adam Selipsky, AWS's CEO, the email said.
Kumar's move to AWS signals a greater focus on selling Amazon's in-store technologies to corporate customers, as Insider previously reported. Hoggett wrote in his email that the move was made "to position our suite of checkout technology, products, and services for growth beyond our stores." Kumar is expected to also take part of his team to AWS, including Sanjay Dash and Barry Johnson, two VPs of technology, and the distinguished scientist Gerard Medioni.
The announcement came a month after Amazon named Doug Herrington as its new retail CEO, following the sudden departure of his predecessor Dave Clark. Hoggett, who previously spent 30 years at the UK grocery giant Tesco, said the timing of the reshuffling was right, even if it distracts the team from the year's first operating plan, called OP1.
"I recognize this is a large amount of change for mid-year and heading into OP1, but the timing is right for our teams, leaders, and the business," Hoggett wrote in his email.
Amazon's spokesperson declined to comment.
Other changes appear to be aimed at building a closer alliance between Amazon and Whole Foods, whose relationship hasn't always been great since the 2017 acquisition, as Insider previously reported.
For example, Hoggett announced that Whole Foods' chief marketing and communications officer, Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, would take on a bigger role to lead all branding, customer insights, and private-label efforts "across Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market." Oblisk also joined Hoggett's leadership team, though she is expected to report to Whole Foods' incoming CEO, Jason Buechel.
Christina Minardi, Whole Foods' executive vice president of growth and development, is also getting an expanded role, leading "all global Amazon and Whole Foods Market real estate teams," Hoggett said in the email. She is expected to report directly to Hoggett while staying on Whole Foods' executive team.
"As the Worldwide Physical Stores and Specialty Fulfillment organization, we have an opportunity to find new ways to collaborate, centralize our capabilities, and leverage the broader Amazon network to serve customers better, together," the email said. "We will accomplish this by more intentionally bringing together Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, Amazon Style, and Global Specialty Fulfillment under one global leadership team."
One notable absence from the reshuffling was Stephenie Landry, a longtime Amazon executive who was most recently the VP of grocery. She announced a leave of absence in June and is expected to return to Amazon early next year. Hoggett wrote in his email that he was looking to hire a new VP of Amazon Fresh who would report directly to him. He also plans to "take an active role" overseeing the grocery part of the business, he added in the email.
Rebecca Gansert, who led Amazon's Global Specialty Fulfillment team, which includes the same-day delivery service, has also moved on and is now working on a "special project," a person familiar with the matter said. Eric Rimling has replaced Gansert and is now working to create "a superior end-to-end supply chain, delivery, and distribution network to better support our customers," Hoggett said.
