Good morning! Canada’s finance minister resigns, Vera Wang agrees to be acquired, and Bath and Body Works is ready for the holiday season. Have a lovely Tuesday.
– Holiday shopping. Earlier this fall, as Bath and Body Works customers were preparing to fill their carts on Black Friday and during the retailer’s even bigger annual shopping event—Candle Day—CEO Gina Boswell made a purchase of her own. The chief executive bought 6,000 shares of her own company’s stock, totaling $177,852.
“I looked at it and I thought, wow, that is a value,” Boswell told me recently in a conversation at the New York Stock Exchange after she rang the opening bell. “A value-seeking customer does the same thing.”
Boswell took over the CEO job exactly two years ago, following a career at Unilever, Avon, and Ford. Bath and Body Works’ share price is down about 6% this year. Boswell’s strategy for the company revolves around “five Es:” elevating the brand, extending its reach into new categories and geographies, engaging the customer, enabling seamless experience, and enhancing operational excellence. By buying her own stock, she wanted to send a message. “That’s a level of confidence that I do have,” she says.
Under her leadership, Bath and Body Works has taken steps toward some of those goals. The Fortune 500 company (ranked No. 481 with $7.4 billion in revenue) known for its candles, lotions, and hand sanitizers has introduced new categories, like a men’s line and laundry products that use some of its signature scents. It’s collaborated with Netflix on lines of candles and personal care products that evoke both Bridgerton and Emily in Paris.
This season, its efforts are all coming together. The company whose products are in 40% of American households hires 30,000 seasonal retail workers for the holidays. The true holiday shopping season was five days shorter than usual this year thanks to a late Thanksgiving, but Boswell says customers started shopping earlier than Black Friday. “You have to bring it,” she says of the shortened season.
While Black Friday was important for Bath and Body Works across its categories, its biggest sales day by far is Candle Day, when on the first weekend in December this year three-wick candles were discounted to $9.95 from sticker prices around $25. The company is trying to expand the Candle Day recipe for all its categories, introducing other discount events like “body care day.”
Holiday planning for 2025 is already underway. When it comes to another hot topic for Fortune 500 CEOs—Donald Trump’s expected tariffs—Boswell feels prepared; 85% of the company’s manufacturing happens in North America, she says. Her seat, however, gives her great insight into the American consumer—for whom it all comes down to value. “They’ll spend—but they’re very choiceful around what they put in their basket.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Difference in opinion. Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s finance minister, is resigning from the cabinet over differences with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the direction of the country’s fiscal policy, specifically related to Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Freeland’s departure marks another hit for Trudeau and the Liberal Party. Washington Post
- She said yes. Private equity-backed WHP Global agreed to acquire Vera Wang, the wedding dress brand founded by its namesake designer. Wang is staying on as chief creative officer and will become a WHP shareholder. Axios
- Female football fans. The NFL has made a partnership deal with Betches Media, a content company by women and for women, as the league’s female audience grows. Betches will create content for the NFL geared towards millennial and Gen Z women and, in return, will gain access to NFL events like the Super Bowl and Draft. Variety
- Funding secured. Women’s pro basketball league Unrivaled raised $28 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to $35 million. The new league, which will give WNBA players a domestic play option during the offseason, begins its inaugural season on Jan. 17 and recently signed a uniform deal with Under Armour. CNBC
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton is moving out of her managing partner role and into an advisory position; she will also serve as the firm's chairperson.
NEXT Life Sciences, a male contraceptive developer, named Darlene Walley CEO. She most recently served as the company’s CEO of Plan A.
Google named Preeti Lobana country manager and VP of Google India. She was previously Google’s VP of publishers, partners, ads content teams, and gTech.
BlueTeam, a commercial restoration, construction, and roofing services provider, appointed Heather Sach as CFO. Most recently, Sach was SVP of finance at APCO Holdings.
UKG, an HR, payroll, and other workforce solutions provider, named Sarah Hodges chief marketing officer. She is currently CMO at Procore Technologies.
HopSkipDrive, a care-centered transportation solutions provider, appointed Sandra Dainora Petersen as senior vice president of product. She was most recently chief product officer at Sittercity.
Nouveau Monde Graphite, a renewable energy materials developer, appointed Chantal Sorel to its board of directors. She was recently vice president of airport infrastructure at Aéroports de Montréal.
ON MY RADAR
The egg: A story of extraction, exploitation, and opportunity Bloomberg
Kylie Kelce is on top. Understanding her ‘everywoman’ appeal Yahoo Life
The tax penalty on married women hiding in plain sight Vox
PARTING WORDS
“There’s an idea that we don’t want care and kindness and softness and love, and it is so much the opposite.”
— Actor Angelina Jolie on strong female characters
