Amazon taps Whole Foods CEO to oversee grocery business

Doug Herrington, the company’s worldwide retail chief, wrote in a memo to employees posted to Amazon’s site that Buechel will “take on an expanded responsibility leading Worldwide Grocery Stores” while continuing to lead Whole Foods. Amazon acquired the upscale grocer for $13.7 billion in 2017.

Amazon’s grocery business was previously overseen by Tony Hoggett. Hoggett left Amazon last October to join Wondery, a food delivery startup led by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore.

In the new role, Buechel will oversee not only Whole Foods, but also Amazon’s larger grocery business, which includes its line of Fresh supermarkets, Go cashierless stores and online grocery service.

Buechel will also join Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s S-Team, a tight-knight group of over a dozen senior executives from almost all areas of Amazon’s business, such as retail, cloud computing, advertising and operations.

Amazon has long been determined to cement itself as a grocery determination for shoppers. Since acquiring Whole Foods, it has launched its own chain of Fresh supermarkets, and it’s taken steps to unify its online and brick-and-mortar grocery operations while appealing to a broader swath of consumers.

The company has further tweaked its grocery division in recent years by shuttering some Fresh and Go stores, as well as removing its pricey and elaborate cashierless checkout system from its Fresh stores.