Cominar is pleased to announce the appointments of Marie-Andrée Boutin as Executive Vice-President, Strategy and Operations – Retail, and Sandra Lécuyer as Vice-President, Talent and Organization Management.
Marie-Andrée Boutin earned her MBA from Concordia University and has extensive expertise in the retail industry. She has occupied several key roles where she has been called upon to define retail strategies related to leasing, development and adaptation to a digital environment. After beginning her career with Provigo, Steinberg and Cadillac Fairview, Marie-Andrée spent more than 20 years at Aldo, where she successfully headed up a corporate real estate portfolio of over 850 stores in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition to these responsibilities, she oversaw the Bensadoun family's significant real estate investment portfolio for the past seven years.
"We plan to capitalize on Marie-Andrée's arrival to drive an enhanced profitability of our retail portfolio," explained Sylvain Cossette, Cominar's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The industry is in the midst of a series of profound transformations. More than ever before, our goal is to be a strategic partner for our clients by creating modern retail spaces and unique experiences for the consumers of today and tomorrow, and to increase the financial contribution and value of our retail assets. Marie-Andrée is the ideal person to enable us to achieve this goal."
Guy Charron, our current Executive Vice-President, Operations Retail will be leaving Cominar as of the New Year. "I wish to thank Guy for his contribution and his years of service," added Mr. Cossette.
The recent evolution embraced by Cominar also involves a fundamental change to its organizational culture and its talent management practices. Sandra Lécuyer, the newly minted Vice-President, Talent and Organization Management, will be called upon to promote a more strategic approach to managing Cominar's human capital. With experience in the international arena and a background in various roles and industries spanning nearly two decades, including the past five years with Cossette Communications, a firm known for its creativity, Sandra will bring a new, contemporary perspective to talent and organizational management.
"Our industry isn't alone in being in a constant state of flux. The entire working world is too," remarked Sylvain Cossette. "In order to thrive in an environment dominated by change, the need to take swift action and fierce competition, we have to think differently and stay ahead of the curve when it comes to our corporate practices and the development of our human capital and our organizational agility. Adding these roles stresses how important I consider the strategic management of our human capital as we move forward with Cominar 2.0 " added Mr. Cossette.