A.S. Watson's Kruidvat appoints Ed van de Weerd as Managing Director

By

Shomara Roosblad

Published
Mar 16, 2018

Drugstore chain Kruidvat, part of A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Benelux, has appointed Ed van de Weerd as Managing Director, effective 7 May 2018. The role of Managing Director is new within the chain.

Van de Weerd joins Kruidvat from grocery store chain Jumbo, where he currently serves as Commercial Director. At Kruidvat he will succeed Johan Boeijenga, who was the Chief Operating Officer of the drugstore chain as well as the Managing Director of Kruidvat Belgium. With the appointment of Van de Weerd, the retailer now has a Managing Director for Kruidvat the Netherlands and Kruidvat Belgium. The latter role is now executed by Bert Verhoef, who joined the company as Managing Director in early March.

Van de Weerd started his career at Procter & Gamble, which he joined in 1993 as Deputy Commercial Director until 2000. In that year he joined Vodafone, where he worked in Australia as Head of Vodafone Target and in the United Kingdom as Global Head of Propositions. In 2006, Van de Weerd became the Senior Vice-President of Marketing, Format, Buying & Merchandising at Ahold Czech Republic, followed by his current position at Jumbo in 2011.

Gerard van Breen, CEO at A.S. Watson Benelux, said in a press release: “Ed van de Weerd is the best person to lead Kruidvat the Netherlands as Managing Director. In addition to his knowledge and experience, Ed has also built a reputation as a person whose entrepreneurship runs in his blood and for whom the customer's needs always come first. I am confident that he will successfully fulfill the growth ambitions of Kruidvat in the Netherlands.”

A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Benelux consists of the drugstore chains Kruidvat, Trekpleister and Prijsmepper. A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Benelux is part of the Hong Kong-based A.S. Watson Group (ASW). Kruidvat operates about 900 stores in the Netherlands and 200 in Belgium. The company employs more than 15,000 people.