IKEA Canada Names CEO, Chief Sustainability Officer: 3 Things to Know

IKEA US business development expert Selwyn Crittendon (pictured, top of page) will shift to CEO and chief sustainability officer of IKEA Canada on August 1, 2023, the home furnishing retailer said.

Here are three things to know about the announcement:

1. Business Focus and Scale: IKEA Canada is part of Ingka Group -- which operates 389 stores in 32 countries, including 15 in Canada. In 2022, the Canada business had 26 million store visitors and 189 million Internet visitors to the IKEA.ca website. To support that business, IKEA Canada continues to make multi-million-dollar investments, the company said. Still, the company did not disclose annual revenue figures or growth rates for the Canadian business.

Meanwhile, the chief sustainability officer role is a key one at the company -- on both global and regional levels. The anecdotal evidence: Karen Pflug is chief sustainability officer for IKEA's global business, and Javier Quinones is CEO and chief sustainability officer for the USA business. All three of the CSOs are listed in our Chief Sustainability Officer database. Also, IKEA's annual sustainability report is here.

2. Selwyn Crittendon's Experience and Focus: Crittendon is a 21-year company veteran. His career journey with the company started when he joined the Woodbridge, Virginia store in 2002. Crittendon consistently climbed the company ladder -- gaining such roles as Operations Manager, Sales Manager and Deputy Store Manager in Orlando, and Store Manager in Miami, and Country Customer Experience Manager at IKEA US. Most recently, Crittendon served as chief business development Manager for the US business -- where he led the country's expansion, transformation, and innovation mandate, the company said.

3. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement about his new role, Crittendon said: "I'm looking forward to learning more about the needs of the many Canadian people and how IKEA can support them with building affordable and sustainable solutions. I'm honoured and energized to join the Canadian organization and look forward to collaborating with our management team and thousands of co-workers nationally on the strategic growth and omnichannel expansion of IKEA Canada. With the recent commitment to showcase how we offer our people the opportunity to build careers with purpose, surrounded by community, it's an especially exciting time for me to join the Canadian team."

IKEA Canada's New CSO: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.