Woolworths CEO retires as Coles’ challenges build

Woolworths’ chief executive Michael Luscombe has announced his retirement and will step aside on October 1, five years to the day since he took the job at Australia’s largest retailer.

While news of Luscombe’s retirement will come as a surprise to some investors, speculation about his continued role at the company had been mounting.

In a media interview in February, Luscombe mused on life after Woolworths and thoughts of retirement.

While Woolworths refuted suggestions that Luscombe was on his way out, it appears there was more to Luscombe’s musings than the retailer let on.

Luscombe’s replacement is Woolworths’ current chief operating officer, Grant O’Brien.

Like Luscombe, O’Brien is a long-time supermarket executive. After leaving school in year 10 to become an apprentice electrician, O’Brien later played AFL football before joining Tasmania’s Purity Supermarkets (a Woolworths subsidiary) in 1986.

He was appointed as Woolworths’ general manager of business development in 2008 and has worked closely on Woolworths’ new hardware joint venture with US giant Lowes.

Luscombe will leave O’Brien to face a resurgent competitor in Coles, which after lagging behind Woolworths for the best part of decade is starting to produce serious growth.

In the first half of the 2010-11 financial year, Coles’ sales earnings before interest and tax increased 18.3%, compared with an 8.1% increase in EBIT at Woolworths’ food and liquor division.

Coles’ controversial price leadership on items such as milk, bread, eggs and flour has also allowed it to overtake Woolworths in the marketing stakes.