Amazon’s Hoggett Announces Departure From Company
Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s senior vice president of Worldwide Grocery Stores, announced on his LinkedIn account Friday, Oct. 25, that he was leaving the company.
“After nearly three years at Amazon, it’s time for the next step in my career,” he wrote. “My time at Amazon has been incredible, and I’m grateful to my colleagues for their support, guidance and friendship. I’m optimistic about the work Amazon is doing to improve the grocery shopping experience for customers, and have no doubt the teams will keep the momentum going in my absence. I’ll be cheering you all on.”
Many of the comments left on his post asked why he was leaving and where he was going, but Hoggett didn’t respond to them.
Three days before his post, Hoggett announced a pilot program for fresh grocery deliveries.
“We recently announced the launch of a new pilot in Phoenix where customers can shop fresh groceries alongside millions of general merchandise products, all delivered together in just hours,” he wrote. “Get organic ingredients from Whole Foods Market 🍎, affordable snacks from Amazon Fresh 🍪, and even socks from Amazon.com 🧦 —all in one order.”
The week before, he congratulated his team for the opening of a small-format store with Whole Foods Market.
“Exciting news in Chicago as we test a small-format store from Amazon under the same roof as Whole Foods Market in the One Chicago building!” he wrote. “Customers can now shop their favorite natural and organic brands while also quickly topping up their groceries with a larger assortment of favorite national brands, grab-and-go meals, and household essentials—all in one trip. Congratulations to the entire team on this opening!”
Hoggett joined Amazon two years and 10 months ago, according to his profile, after 31 years at British supermarket chain Tesco as group chief strategy and innovation officer and as group chief operating officer.
“Hoggett started his career at Tesco as a 16-year-old trolley bo,” an article from Reuters said at the time. “Over three decades he rose to become CEO Asia and then group chief operating officer.”
The Reuters article quoted Hoggett as saying:
“It was a big decision to move on from Tesco but after meeting members of the Amazon leadership team and hearing the ambitions for the business and physical stores, I know it’s a journey and an opportunity that I want to be part of.”
“After nearly three years of leading our grocery business, helping guide the organization to new levels of impact, and building a strong team that will continue to make grocery shopping simpler, faster, and more affordable, Tony Hoggett has decided to leave Amazon,” according to a company statement. “We thank Tony for his many accomplishments at Amazon and especially for what he’s delivered for customers.”
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