Thai hypermarket chain Big C has appointed a new chief with substantial Asian experience.

Robert James Cissell, the new president and CEO of Big C Supercenter, was previously chief operating officer and takes over from Yves Braibant, who is returning to France for family reasons, after 13 years in the role.

Cissell has 32 years of retail operational experience including roles as CEO of India’s Reliance Retail and COO of Walmart China.

He also served as CEO of British retailer Robert Dyas and as CEO of Group Commercial of Kingfisher overseeing the UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Big C, owned by Thailand’s Central Group and France’s Groupe Casino, operates 123 large-format stores (Big C Supercenter, Extra and Jumbo), 36 Big C Markets, 315 Mini Big C shops (82 in Bangchak service stations), and 151 Pure Drugstores in Thailand.

Cissell says he wants to lead continuing growth in the business through the development of new formats and services across the network and online.