Two longstanding board members of the SPAR Austria Group, Chairman Dr Gerhard Drexel and Mr Rudolf Staudinger, will step down at the end of 2020, in line with the company’s statutes regarding an age limit of 65 years. From 1 January 2021, Fritz Poppmeier will become the new CEO of SPAR Holding AG with Hans K. Reisch as Deputy CEO. Fritz Poppmeier has worked at SPAR Austria in various roles for 26 years. Marcus Wild, Markus Kaser and Paul Klotz will be joining the Board, having been with SPAR Austria for many years.

Dr Gerhard Drexel will be stepping down after 31 years as a Board member, including 20 years as Chairman. Rudolf Staudinger will step down after 36 years within SPAR Austria, including 18 years as a Board member. Dr Gerhard Drexel, who is a co-owner of the group, will become Chairman of the Supervisory Board at the beginning of 2021.

Fritz Poppmeier has been a member of the SPAR Group Executive Board since 1999, having joined the company 26 years ago. As Chairman, he will be responsible for corporate strategy, PR, sustainability, retail sales, logistics, expansion, and REGIO.

Hans K. Reisch has worked in various roles in the company for 33 years. In his new role as Deputy Chairman, he will add human resources, personnel development, legal and administration to his existing responsibilities of finance and the TANN meat division which he has managed since 2001.

New Board members

Marcus Wild, currently CEO of the SPAR European Shopping Centre division (SES), will join the SPAR Austria Board. In addition to SES, he will take on responsibility for retail estate, Hervis sports division, and business process management.

Markus Kaser, currently INTERSPAR Managing Director, will also join the Board. He will take on responsibility for marketing, CSR, purchasing, IT and Maximarkt, in addition to INTERSPAR.

Paul Klotz is currently Chairman of the Board of DESPAR Italy and Managing Director of Aspiag Service. He will also join the SPAR Austria Board, taking on responsibility for international business.

Subsequent appointments

Following the appointments mentioned above, a number of other management changes were announced. Dr Christof Rissbacher will take over Paul Klotz’ role in Aspiag Service, after serving as Managing Director of SPAR Distribution Centre in Wörgl for the past eight years. Patricia Sepetavc, currently handling retail in Tyrol and Salzburg, will become the new Managing Director of SPAR Wörgl.

Johann Felser, currently CFO of SES, will replace Marcus Wild as CEO of SES. He will be supported by Christoph Andexlinger, who currently leads International Centre Management, and Dr Johannes Köth, who currently leads international asset management.

Johannes Holzleitner, who since 2012 has held the role of manager of supplier policy, product strategy and Managing Director of EKS, will be the new INTERSPAR Managing Director. He will be replaced by Tanja Wiesmann as Head of Supplier Policy, Product Range Strategy and Managing Director of EKS, leaving her current role of product range manager in SPAR, a position held since 2001. The Deputy Managing Director of INTERSPAR role will be filled by Michaela Kaspar, who was previously head of food and non-food at INTERSPAR.

Source: SPAR Austria

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About SPAR Austria

The origins of SPAR in Austria date back to 1954, but the current SPAR AG was created in 1970 when the original founding families joined with other regional wholesalers to form SPAR Austria AG – a 100% privately owned Austrian company.

With licences granted by SPAR International, ASPIAG (Austria SPAR International AG) has also developed SPAR in Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Northern Italy.