Canadian Tire Corporation announced its president, Michael Medline, will take over the position of CEO from Steven Wetmore when he retires Dec. 1.  Wetmore has agreed to remain on the board of directors in a new, non-executive position of deputy chairman.


“Michael's first-hand knowledge gained while running many of our business divisions and the role he has played for years in developing our strategy and leading our acquisitions uniquely position him now to assume the CEO role,” said Maureen Sabia, Chairman of the Board of Directors.  “We will have as our CEO one of the industry's most innovative leaders.”

 

Medline has been a senior executive of Canadian Tire for more than 13 years and has led many of the Company's most strategic initiatives, including the acquisition of Mark's in 2002, the acquisition of the Forzani Group in 2011, the acquisition of Pro Hockey Life and the recently announced Scotiabank partnership in May of this year.  He has also directly led the operations of many of the company's business units, including Petroleum, PartSource and Canadian Tire's Automotive division, FGL Sports and Mark's. The board named him president of the company in November 2013 after a global search. Since then, Medline has led all of the Company's business units, including a focus on adapting their business models to be more relevant in a world of rapidly changing technology and customer expectations.

 

Wetmore joined Canadian Tire's Board of Directors in 2003 and was appointed CEO in 2008. He has led the evolution of the Canadian Tire brand and introduced a brand-led culture to the company, while building a creative, innovative management team – all resulting in one of the Company's most exciting and fastest periods of growth in its history.

“Six years ago, the Board of Directors asked Stephen to lead us on a path of positioning Canadian Tire's iconic triangle as one of Canada's leading brands,” continued Sabia. “We cannot thank Stephen enough for his enormous contributions to our success.  The company is now in an enviable position, with an impressive leadership team fully prepared to meet the challenges presented by the future and to meet the increasing expectations of our loyal customers.  We are very fortunate indeed that Stephen has chosen to remain involved with the company and we know that he will continue to make invaluable contributions in his new role as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors.”


“I am very proud of the team that we have running the company today.  For all of the strategic initiatives that will come and go, the glue that holds it all together is the talent, creativity and innovation of your executive team,” said Wetmore.  “Michael is an exceptional leader of this team and was the obvious successor for the CEO role as we began this transition late last year.   I look forward to continuing to work with Michael in my new role on the Board and I know he will be exceptional in every regard as he takes on the leadership of the next chapter in the Company's evolution.”


“It's a tremendous honour to be asked to lead a Canadian icon like Canadian Tire Corporation,” said Medline.  “Stephen is leaving Canadian Tire in a position of strength and with opportunities to build an even stronger company.  In a world increasingly driven by digital innovation and customer insights, we are extremely well positioned with the talent we have and the talent we are recruiting to meet the changing expectations of our customers.  With the strong foundation and great assets we have, I am definitely optimistic about the company's prospects for growth going forward.”