Nurit Kadosh
6.6.22, 08:49 AM
Uri Kilstein was appointed CEO of the supermarket chain Yeinot Bitan held by Electra Consumer Products, as revealed by Calcalist.
This morning (Monday), the board of the Yeinot Bitan Group has confirmed the appointment of Kilstein as the CEO of Carrefour Israel. As part of his role, Kilstein will oversee the food retailing activity of the group, will lead the entrance of the international retailer Carrefour to Israel, and will manage the Yeinot Bitan and Mega chains, as well as their conversion to the Carrefour chain. Kilstein will begin his appointment on July 1st and will replace Amit Zeev, who resigned last week due to what he defined as differences of opinions regarding the manner in which the chain should be managed.
CEO of Electra Consumer Products and Chair of Yeinot Bitan, Zvika Schwimmer, stated: “I am glad that Kilstein has joined to bring more power to the group. Kilstein will oversee the overall food retailing activity of the group, will lead Carrefour’s entrance to Israel, and will lead the development of the group’s online section in the food industry. Kilstein has great managerial skills and vast and varied retailing experience.
Taking this step, Kilstein has relinquished the opportunity he had to become Shufersal’s CEO in the near future.
Since Electra Consumer Products became the holding company of the Yeinot Bitan Group in May 2021, the former has taken several steps to re-brand the failing chain it has acquired and to enhance it by initiating further operations. For this purpose, in October, the company signed an agreement with Seven-Eleven to open a store chain under the brand name in Israel.
In April, the company signed an agreement that allowed it to re-brand all 151 branches of Yeinot Bitan and Mega under the European Carrefour brand. In between, the company has signed an agreement merging Yeinot Bitan’s online activity with Quick’s online activity into a joint company held (51%) by Yeinot Bitan, but the agreement was not yet authorized by the Israel Competition Authority and therefore was not completed.
Kilstein stated: “Carrefour will provide us with the most advanced professional retailing umbrella in the world, and it has great potential for being a game-changer in the Israeli market. I am convinced that Yeinot Bitan’s existing infrastructure, along with the power of Electra Group and the opportunity to assimilate the capabilities of the international chain in the local market, will enable us to innovate for the customer and in the food market.”