Lululemon, Apple, Best Buy CEOs among April’s retail C-suite moves

Sponsored by

The customer’s always journeying: Retail, like life, is about the journey—the customer journey, that is. In our State of Stores report, we dive into how retailers need to use every tool in their kit (including the POS) to meet the ever-expanding expectations of today’s shoppers. Read it here.

We spoke it into existence last month—we crossed another TBD retail exec appointment off the list in April as Lululemon finally announced a new CEO. Here’s more on that, and other April C-suite moves to know.

• Lululemon ended its slightly dramatic monthslong search for a new CEO, appointing Heidi O’Neill, who fills the role vacated by Calvin McDonald on January 31. O’Neill, who previously spent over two decades at Nike, most recently as president of consumer, product, and brand, will aim to regain the edge Lululemon has lost in the athleticwear space in recent years.
• After leading the tech giant since 2011, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced he’s exiting his role, set to be replaced by John Ternus, its SVP of hardware engineering, on September 1.
• Best Buy tapped Jason Bonfig as its next CEO, set to take over for Corie Barry, the retailer’s CEO since 2019, on October 31. Bonfig, who currently serves as chief customer, product and fulfillment officer, has been with Best Buy since 1999.
• Body care brand Sol de Janeiro’s Founder and CEO Heela Yang exited the company, with Global Chief Marketing and Digital Officer Jordan Saxemard, a former Coty and Dyson exec, selected as its next CEO.
• Slim Jim parent Conagra appointed J.M. Smucker vet John Brase as its next CEO, succeeding 11-year CEO Sean Connolly on May 31.
• Dolce & Gabbana named former Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino to the co-CEO role, serving alongside Chair and CEO Alfonso Dolce.
• Ganni CEO Laura du Rusquec departed her role after two years leading the fashion brand, with retail executive Hans Hoegstedt taking over in the interim.

• Bergdorf Goodman Chief Merchandising Officer Yumi Shin left her role to join Nordstrom as its first-ever EVP of global brand partnerships. Shin first tried to join Nordstrom last year, but Bergdorf parent Saks Global sued to block the move, alleging it violated her noncompete agreement. The lawsuit was dropped in March amid Saks Global’s bankruptcy proceedings.
• Bath & Body Works created its first-ever chief brand and product officer role, naming Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, a former Vera Wang and Estée Lauder exec who the retailer hired as creative product and brand advisor last year.
• Tony Bignell became Nike’s third chief innovation officer to exit the sneaker giant in three years.
• Hershey’s US President Andrew Archambault is stepping down on May 1 after being promoted to the role just last month.