Calgary Co-operative Association Limited has appointed Andrew Clarke as Chief Executive Officer, placing a globally seasoned retail operator at the helm of a $1.5 billion enterprise with nearly 500,000 members and 3,800 employees across Alberta.
Clarke's Background
Clarke brings more than 30 years of retail experience across four continents and more than a dozen countries, beginning his career at Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom before moving through senior roles in Europe and the United States. His résumé spans financial, brand, and cultural turnarounds in both public and private ownership structures, and he was recognized by CNBC and Time Magazine in 2025 for a values-driven leadership style. Board Chair Sandy Edmonstone described him as someone who understands co-operative principles while also carrying the drive to improve the bottom line — a balance that matters for a member-owned organization navigating a competitive grocery-and-fuel landscape.
"I'm genuinely honoured to be joining Calgary Co-op," Clarke said. "This is an organization with 70 years of history, built by members, for members. My job is to listen to what members want from their Co-op and then work with our teams to deliver it."
Scale and Store Mix
With assets of $1.2 billion, Calgary Co-op operates food centres, pharmacies, gas stations, car washes, home health care centres, and wine, spirits, beer and cannabis locations across Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, High River, Okotoks, and Strathmore. The co-op also owns Community Natural Foods and Willow Park Wines & Spirits, operates Beacon Pharmacies, and holds a majority stake in Care Pharmacies — a diversified format mix that puts forecourt fuel alongside full-service grocery and specialty retail under one membership umbrella.
For c-store and fuel operators, Calgary Co-op's gas-station network represents one of the more closely watched independent forecourt footprints in Western Canada. Clarke's experience navigating complex multi-format retail businesses and his self-described emphasis on listening to members before acting suggests the near-term priority will be stabilization and team-building rather than rapid network expansion. That approach mirrors what larger co-operative and independent fuel retailers have pursued in recent years as fuel margins remain volatile and inside-sales mix increasingly determines overall profitability.
What Operators Should Watch
Co-operative retail structures present governance dynamics that differ sharply from publicly traded chains — member votes, board oversight, and community accountability all shape strategic options in ways that SSOs and chain operators rarely encounter. Clarke's stated board-and-governance background, combined with Edmonstone's emphasis on the board-management partnership, signals that Calgary Co-op intends to keep its decision-making structure intact even as it pursues growth.
For the broader foodservice and convenience channel, Clarke's track record of brand and product transformation is worth monitoring. Calgary Co-op's food centres already carry a stronger fresh and prepared-foods orientation than most forecourt-anchored retailers, and any upgrade to its dispensed-beverage or grab-and-go programs would reflect the same premiumization trend reshaping c-store foodservice across North America.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
