Ahold names new CEO

Amsterdam, Holland Royal Ahold NV, the Dutch owner of Stop & Shop supermarkets in the United States, said Thursday it has named Dick Boer as CEO.

Boer replaces current chief John Rishton, who is leaving to become head of Rolls-Royce Group Plc.

Currently Ahold’s COO for Europe, Boer will transition into the position in March 2011. He joined Ahold in 1998 as head of the company’s operations in the Czech Republic. He became CEO of its Albert Heijn grocery stores, the biggest chain in the Netherlands, in 2000.

Boer will be succeeded in his current job by Sander van der Laan, who runs Albert Heijn. Carl Schlicker, currently head of Ahold’s U.S. retail operations, has been appointed COO of the United States, succeeding Larry Benjamin, who will retire in early 2011.