Image via LinkedIn

Erika DeHaas is stepping into the role of SVP of marketing and retail media for Empire Company Limited and Sobeys after close to three years as Empire’s VP of corporate marketing.

During her eight-year tenure in a variety of senior positions at Sobeys’ parent company, DeHaas supported campaigns including “Feed the Dream” campaign for this year’s Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and the 2023 launch of Sobeys’s “So.Be.It” brand platform. She joined Canada’s second largest grocer in the summer of 2018 as director of digital and strategic marketing and moves into the new SVP role after Sandra Sanderson’s departure as Empire CMO earlier this year.

“Eight years of mentorship leaves a mark, and hers has shaped me more than I can put into words,” DeHaas said in a LinkedIn post praising the company’s marketing team and Sanderson. “The impact she has made is unmatched. Empire is better for everything she built, and so am I.”

Before joining Empire, DeHaas served as the associate VP of brand marketing at Canadian Tire subsidiary FGL Sports, where she supported work including a Sport Chek campaign for the 2018 Winter Olympics.