Alexander “Sander” van der Laan is CEO of Douglas, the leading omnichannel retailer of premium beauty products in Europe with approximately 20,000 employees, and is one of the most renowned executives in the European beauty industry.
Prior to his appointment as CEO of Douglas, Mr. van der Laan served for more than six years as CEO of Action, a major Dutch non-food retailer. Prior to that, he spent more than a decade at Ahold Delhaize and held various roles as, among others, President & CEO of the company in the USA, General Manager of Gall & Gall, and most recently as Managing Director of the leading Dutch retail chain Albert Heijn. Mr. van der Laan began his career as a product and project manager at Mölnlycke Tissue Nederland before moving to Unilever.
Mr. van der Laan studied at Nyenrode Business University and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA).