Foote will start as head of the chain this month, announced Hudson's Bay Co., the owner of Zellers. Both Loblaw and HBC are headquartered in Brampton.

"I am thrilled to be joining ... the leadership team and Zellers on this tremendous opportunity to reposition Zellers in the Canadian marketplace," said Foote in a statement. "Our focus will be on branded apparel, improved service along with the roll out of our new prototype stores."

Hudson's Bay is currently in the process of reworking the 338-year-old company's operations from the bottom up.

At Loblaw, Foote was the Chief Merchandising Officer and oversaw procurement and merchandising functions for all lines of business, marketing, supply chain and information technology.

Foote was recently part of a major reshuffle of top Loblaw executives as that Brampton-based company also looks to turn things around since Wal-Mart began to carry groceries.