Two new CEOs announced at dawn of New Year

The ending of 2019 brought with it two new chief executive appointments.

BevMo! appointed its senior VP of merchandising, Josiah Knutsen, as president and CEO, effective Dec. 27. He succeeds Dimitri Haloulos, who led the beverage retailer during the past four years and who will return to the consumer packaged goods industry.

Knutsen joined BevMo! in 2018 to run all aspects of the company’s merchandising  for its beer, wine, spirits and other business lines. Before joining BevMo!, he spent 17 years at Safeway and then the Albertsons Companies following the mergers of those two companies in 2015. Just prior to leaving Albertsons, he held the title of senior VP of marketing and merchandising for the Northern California division, where he had direct P&L responsibility for nearly 300 stores.

In other appointments, and as previously reported, The Michaels Companies named Walmart e-commerce executive Ashley Buchanan as president and CEO. His appointment comes just about two months after Michaels tapped interim CEO Mark Cosby to fill the job.

Cosby will continue to serve as CEO during a transition period until April 1, 2020 and will remain a member of the board after he steps down.