Galen Weston Is Stepping Down As Loblaw Head & People Are Losing It Over His Replacement's Name
"The simulation. It glitches."
A Loblaws storefront. Right: CEO Galen Weston.
The president of Loblaw Companies Limited, Galen Weston Jr., will be stepping down as the head of the company to make way for a new Chief Executive Officer, effective in January of 2024.
As announced by Loblaw on April 18, Weston will be finishing out the year as president after being involved in the upper leadership of the company since 2006.
The new CEO is someone by the name of Per Bank, a business person with 30 years of retail experience, with his most recent job being the head of a grocery store chain in Denmark.
Of course, given the high profile Loblaw has in Canada, the memes and jokes about this situation are already flying. With lots coming for Weston as well as Bank.
@narcitytoronto Galen Weston Jr., will be stepping down as president of Loblaw Companies Limited to make way for a new Chief Executive Officer effective in January 2024. Weston will be finishing out the year as CEO after being involved in the upper leadership of the company since 2006. His replacement is Per Bank, a business person with 30 years of retail experience with his most recent job being the head of a grocery store chain in Denmark. #loblaw #loblawscanada #galenweston #loblawsontario #loblawsceo
"Galen Weston is being replaced as the head of Loblaw by someone named .... Per Bank. The simulation. It glitches," said one popular tweet.
"Per Bank is literally the most perfect name for the new head of Loblaws," another Twitter user stated.
\u201cPer Bank is literally the most perfect name for the new head of Loblaws\u201d— Kristin Raworth (@Kristin Raworth) 1681824338
"Per Bank is like the No Name name for a CEO," posted one user, referencing the iconic yellow-packaged house brand.
\u201cPer Bank is like the No Name name for a CEO\u201d— Shawn876263761 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Shawn876263761 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1681824446
Another person just tweeted, "Mr. Bank is set to replace Galen Weston as Loblaw CEO in 2024," with the image of the smartly dressed symbol of capitalism, the Monopoly man.
\u201cMr. Bank is set to replace Galen Weston as Loblaw CEO in 2024.\u201d— Adam Frisk (@Adam Frisk) 1681824333
Many people are also saying that Weston and Bank look eerily similar, with jokes about Weston using an AI image generator to create Per Bank to replace him!
\u201cLoblaws CEO Galen Weston uses AI image generator to create Per Bank to replace himself as CEO. \ud83d\ude02\u201d— Gugu Aujla \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 \ud83e\udd85 (@Gugu Aujla \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 \ud83e\udd85) 1681824969
Bank himself also tweeted the recent news. While his Tweet was in Danish, the translation shows that he's excited about his new job, and he wrote it's "an opportunity I couldn't say no to."
\u201cNyt job og CEO-skifte. Til efter\u00e5ret tiltr\u00e6der jeg som CEO for Canadas #1 retailer Loblaw. En mulighed, jeg ikke kunne sige nej til. Lige dele gl\u00e6de og vemod efter 11 fantastiske \u00e5r i Salling Group. Ny CEO bliver Anders Hagh et perfekt valg. Salling Group er i de bedste h\u00e6nder.\u201d— Per Bank (@Per Bank) 1681816561
It's a very optimistic outlook for a company that has been at the centre of Canada's discourse around affordability, with Weston having to appear before parliament on the matter of "Greedflation" just last month.
It's also worth noting that Weston isn't leaving the company fully.
When Bank takes up his new role, Weston will continue to be the chair of the Loblaw board of directors. Weston will maintain his role as CEO of Loblaws' parent company, George Weston Limited, "where he will play an active role setting the strategy for the group," according to the official statement.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.