COLUMBUS, Ohio — Big Lots Inc. has appointed Andrej Mueller to be executive vice president of business strategy.

A native of Munich, Germany, Mueller has more than 15 years of experience in the consumer industry. His expertise is centered around profitable growth strategy, upgrading marketing, sales and advanced analytics capabilities, and delivering transformational change across a broad range of consumer companies. He has worked in both developed and developing retail environments across Europe, North and South America, Africa and Australia.

Bruce Thorn, president and chief executive officer of Big Lots, stated, “We are excited to welcome to the company an executive with Andrej’s breadth of experience. His role is an expansion to our leadership team and part of the transformational roadmap for our future growth. Andrej is an exceptional strategist with insatiable curiosity and a collaborative work style that will prove invaluable as we position our business for long-term success under our Operation North Star strategic plan. He will report directly to me and is responsible for generating customer and competitive insights, as well as managing the company’s strategy planning efforts. Creating a data-driven enterprise strategy group ensures that we achieve operational excellence and an evergreen strategic planning process.”

Prior to joining Big Lots, Mueller spent 18 years with the Boston Consulting Group where he most recently held the role of managing director and partner in their German office.