Couche-Tard's Alex Miller named Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year
Retail Council of Canada (RCC) announced Alex Miller as the recipient of the Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Award, as part of the Excellence in Retailing Awards program. This accolade recognizes Miller's exceptional leadership as president & CEO of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the Quebec-based global convenience and mobility leader, behind the Circle K and Couche-Tard banners.
Named president and CEO in September 2024, with more than 25 years of experience in the retail fuel and convenience sector, Miller brings deep operational expertise and a global perspective to the role. Miller joined Couche-Tard in 2012 as director of Fuels, Real Estate and Facilities, and has held progressively senior roles across fuels, operations, and commercial optimization ever since. Before Couche-Tard, Miller spent 16 years with BP Plc in operational, supply chain, strategy, and business development roles across the United States and Europe, including eight years in retail across six U.S. markets and four years in strategy and planning at BP's London headquarters.
Couche-Tard is a global leader in convenience and mobility, operating in 27 countries and territories, with close to 17,300 stores, including more than 2,100 in Canada. Steering an enterprise of that scale demands more than operational command; it demands a clear vision for where retail is going. Under Alex Miller, that vision is Core + More, a focused strategy that doubles down on the company's strength in core categories while investing in the areas that will define the next generation of convenience retail.
What truly sets Miller apart is not the scale of the business he leads, it's how he leads it. He has made investing in frontline employees a defining priority, significantly cutting the administrative burden on store teams so they can focus on what matters most: the customer. It is a philosophy rooted in empowerment, pushing decisions closer to the customer, actively seeking out diverse perspectives, and building a culture of ownership at every level of the organization. The results are measurable: better retention, stronger engagement, and an operation that gets sharper the closer it gets to the customer.
"Alex Miller is a transformational retail leader," said Kim Furlong, president and CEO of Retail Council of Canada. "From the frontline up, he has built a culture of accountability and entrepreneurship, invested meaningfully in the people who serve Canadian customers every day, and brought a clear strategic vision to one of Canada's most iconic retail brands. We are proud to recognize his achievements with this award."
The Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year award will be presented to Alex Miller at Retail Council of Canada's Excellence in Retailing Awards Gala on June 2.
