Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust announced changes to its Board of Trustees. Crombie announced Empire Company Limited's appointment of Vivek Sood to Crombie's Board of Trustees in replacement of Heidi Jamieson-Mills, effective July 15, 2024. Born in Uganda and raised in Crombie's hometown of Pictou County, Vivek has spent the last 25 years of his career with Empire and Sobeys Inc., where he held various senior positions, including Vice President, Finance & Administration, Senior Vice President, Pharmacy Group, and Executive Vice President, Related Businesses.

Prior to retiring in July 2024, Vivek was also Executive Sponsor of Empire's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy, as well as for their Enterprise Resource Planning initiative. Vivek holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University and a Master of Business Administration from Saint Mary's University. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst Designation in 2004 and completed the ICD-Rotman Directors Education Program in 2021.

Vivek was appointed pursuant to Empire subsidiary ECL Developments Limited's right under Section 3.8 of Crombie's Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust to appoint up to four trustees, based on ECL's current ownership level and size of the Board.