JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Southeastern Grocers has named Anthony Hucker as president and chief executive officer.

The food and drug retailer said Thursday that the appointment is effective immediately. Hucker has been serving in those roles on an interim basis since July 1 with the resignation Ian McLeod, who left the company to pursue another career opportunity.

Anthony Hucker

“I’m grateful to our leadership team for the smooth transition over the past six weeks, and I’m excited for the opportunity to continue to drive the strategic direction of the company,” Hucker said in a statement. “I’m humbled and honored to lead our team of more than 50,000 associates, who are our greatest assets, putting our customers first, always. Over the past two years, we’ve made substantial progress in our transformation, and we’re ready to push forward.”

Before joining Southeastern Grocers, Hucker served as president and COO of St. Louis-based Schnucks. Before that he was president of Landover, Md.-based Giant Food, and served on the executive board of Ahold USA.

Prior to joining Giant Food, Anthony spent seven years at Wal-Mart in a variety of leadership positions, internationally and domestically. He began as the chief information officer of the Americas, formed the retailer’s global format development division and was later promoted to head of strategy and business development for Wal-Mart U.S.

Hucker began his career as a food industry analyst reporting on pan-European stocks to the City of London. He then worked for 10 years with Aldi, serving in a variety of leadership assignments in Germany, the United States and Austria, and was part of the original startup leadership team that set up Aldi UK.

“We are pleased to welcome Anthony as CEO of Southeastern Grocers as he was always part of our succession plan,” the company stated. “He has played an integral role in our successful transformation over the last 18 months, and we are positive he is the right leader to guide SEG. Anthony brings significant industry expertise, and we are confident that he will continue to improve the business to the benefit of our dedicated customers across the Southeast.”

The fifth-largest U.S. supermarket chain and the second-largest in the Southeast, Southeastern Grocers has more than 730 grocery stores — more than half with pharmacies — in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina under such banners as BI-LO, Winn-Dixie, Harveys and Fresco y Más.