From beauty to fashion to grocery, retailers and brands rung in the new year by switching up their C-suites in January. Here are the major moves to know:
- Ulta Beauty announced COO Kecia Steelman will take over the CEO role from David Kimbell, who will retire after 11 years with the beauty retailer. Steelman, who has been with Ulta since 2014, will bring in a paycheck of $1.4 million in the role.
- Ulta CMO Michelle Crossan-Matos also exited her role as part of a number of organizational changes to “further optimize our work,” COO and incoming CEO Kecia Steelman told WWD.
- Amazon named Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel as VP of worldwide grocery stores, while he’ll also continue to helm Whole Foods.
- After several tough quarters, Hershey said CEO Michele Buck will depart her role on June 30, 2026, with a successor yet to be named.
- REI announced its CEO Eric Artz is retiring in March. Mary Beth Laughton, a former Athleta and Nike exec, will assume the role of president on February 3 before taking over the chief executive spot in March.
- Princess Polly owner A.k.a. Brands named CFO and interim CEO Ciaran Long as its permanent CEO.
- Authentic Brands Group tapped former Wynn Resorts CEO as its new president, assuming the role from Nick Woodhouse, who will become executive vice chairman.
- Following the departure of CEO Ashley Buchanan on January 14, Michaels created an interim office of the CEO including President Heather Bennett, Chief Merchandising Officer Stacey Shively, and CFO Perry Pericleous.
- Gucci selected Christophe Marque as its president and CEO of Americas, effective April 1. Marque has held various positions at LVMH subsidiary DFS Group, most recently as president of global merchandising.
- Grocery Outlet brought on The Fresh Market CEO as its new chief exec after the October departure of RJ Sheedy. The Fresh Market, meanwhile, promoted its COO Brian Johnson to be the new president and CEO.
- Skin care brand Nécessaire hired Chitra Balireddi, former Glossier chief commercial officer, as its new CEO, taking over for co-founder Randi Christiansen.
- Dr. Martens creative director Darren McKoy is stepping down after 10 years with the footwear brand.
This report was originally published by Retail Brew.
Join us at the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit May 19–20, 2026, in Atlanta. The next era of workplace innovation is here—and the old playbook is being rewritten. At this exclusive, high-energy event, the world’s most innovative leaders will convene to explore how AI, humanity, and strategy converge to redefine, again, the future of work. Register now.
