Amazon’s former head of European real estate, Raimund Paetzmann, has joined German e-commerce company Zalando as corporate vice president of real estate.
Paetzmann worked at online retail giant Amazon for 14 years and was responsible for establishing the company’s European distribution network during its most substantial period of growth.
He was responsible for all European logistics acquisitions, from land searches to site negotiations. He oversaw the strategy for and leasing of one of the largest and most advanced networks of warehouses in Europe, designed to fulfil hundreds of millions of customer orders across the Continent.
During his tenure at Amazon he gained insight into the retailer’s success story, witnessing a growth from $600m net sales to around $130bn in 2016.
He left the company in January 2016 and has since been on sabbatical during which he went on a trip around the world.
In addition to his real estate expertise, Paetzmann is also a consultant and advises investors, developers, occupiers and retailers on how to best implement multichannel strategies.
He is also an e-commerce advisor to the Tanger Med Zones – the largest port in Morocco. He advises on strategies for global e-commerce supply chains through re-shoring and near-shoring.
Paetzmann said: “Zalando is the second biggest retailer in Europe from an e-commerce perspective. My new role will be similar to the network planning that I did when I was at Amazon, and I will also be advising on all corporate real estate including offices in addition to services and facilities, so it is a much wider role and with a much bigger team, so the overall responsibility is bigger.
“I’m excited. I think it’s a great company with great people, and I am looking forward to opening the next chapter in my e-commerce career. Hopefully I can contribute to making them more successful.”
To send feedback, e-mail amber.rolt@egi.co.uk or tweet @AmberRoltEG or @estatesgazette
