7-Eleven Malaysia CEO Gary Thomas Brown resigns

7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings (SEM) has appointed Ho Meng as acting CEO effective 1 August to replace Gary Thomas Brown (pictured).The nation’s biggest convenience store chain said Brown has resigned on personal reasons with effect 31 July 2017.“The board would like to thank Brown for his contributions to SEM and wish him success in all his future endeavours,” 7-Eleven Malaysia said in a statement to A+M.Ho will be supported by Hishammudin Hasan, deputy CEO of SEM, and is currently the non-executive director of SEM. He formerly served as deputy CEO of SEM and prior to that, as managing director since joining the company in 2011.The company has been trying to keep up with the evolving consumer behaviour. In July last year, 7-Eleven Malaysia launched its 2000 store in Malaysia, with a revamped and modern convenience store format. The new generation 7-Eleven convenience stores encourage customers to see 7-Eleven as a lifestyle concept where customers are able to enjoy the range of products on offer by spending time at the store, similar to a neighborhood cafe.In May, Lazada Malaysia also announced its partnership with 7-Eleven Malaysia and MOLPay Malaysia, offering customers offline payment services in stores in Malaysia. Hans-Peter Ressel, Lazada Malaysia’s CEO, said the partnership was created to provide an alternative payment option for online shoppers. Brown also reportedly said the company noticed a significant increase on its customer's payment in 7-Eleven stores, with more consumers preferring the traditional way of paying with cash and receiving items on the spot.SEM through its subsidiary 7-Eleven Malaysia is the owner and operator of 7-Eleven stores in Malaysia. Incorporated on 4 June 1984, 7-Eleven Malaysia is the pioneer and largest 24-hours standalone convenience store operator in Malaysia with over 2,100 outlets nationwide and serves more than 900,000 customers daily, said the company.