Big-Box Briefing: Who’s in, who’s out in major retailers’ C-suites

These moves challenge the notion of merchandising being the most critical division of any retailer, said said Blaine Nielsen, president of retailers for commerce operations platform Rithum. Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Kroger have all recently elevated executives responsible for their respective AI, retail media or e-commerce businesses.

“Retailers have built new businesses internally — marketplaces, retail media, membership, data, even rapid delivery — and that’s all been on top of an org chart designed traditionally to buy and sell owned inventory in stores,” Nielsen told Modern Retail. “The business has outgrown that org chart or those boxes, and different people who have [grown] some of those businesses … are now in the running for some of the top positions.”

From retailer to retailer, below is a look at how these new appointments, promotions and exits have shaped out so far in 2026.

Target continues its attempt to return to sales growth and transform its business. New CEO Michael Fiddelke has made several changes this year:

• Chandhu Nair will join Target as its first chief AI officer later this month after more than six years at Lowe’s as svp of stores, data, AI and innovation, the company announced this week. Modern Retail spoke with Nair earlier this year about how Lowe’s has made decisions surrounding new AI features such as the Mylow virtual assistant. Target said Nair’s focus will be “bringing greater focus and coordination to AI across the enterprise.”
• Purvi Shah was promoted to svp of user experience. She was previously vp and head of user experience design, research and accessibility.
• Lisa Roath took over as chief operating officer in February, taking Fiddelke’s previous position. She was previously chief merchandising officer for food, essentials and beauty.
• Cara Sylvester became chief merchandising officer in February. She was previously chief guest experience officer.
• Rick Gomez, chief commercial officer, exited the company in February.
• Jill Sando, chief merchandising officer for apparel, accessories, home and Fun101 (which includes categories such as toys and electronics) retired in February.

Best Buy has dramatically overhauled its C-suite ahead of Jason Bonfig’s appointment to the role of CEO. Current CEO Corie Barry will depart on Oct. 31, a change that was announced in April. Bonfig, who has been with the company since 1999, was previously the company’s chief customer, product and fulfillment officer. Barry will remain a strategic adviser for six months after stepping down. Here are the most recent changes:

• Anne Bramman will become the company’s CFO beginning Aug. 19, following Matt Biluna’s departure July 31. She was previously chief financial and growth officer for consumer analytics company Circana and CFO of Nordstrom.
• Frank Bedo became chief strategy and growth officer in July, leading the company’s growth opportunities, investments, new partnerships and customer experiences. He was previously its chief marketplace and e-commerce officer.
• Patrick McGinnis was named chief revenue officer in July, overseeing merchandising, e-commerce, marketplace and healthcare-tech arm Best Buy Health. He was previously chief merchandising officer.
• Luke Motschenbacher was promoted to chief retail and services officer in July, overseeing all of Best Buy’s stores in the U.S. and services. He was previously president of retail.
• Lisa Valentino was named chief ads and media officer in July, overseeing the company’s ads and media business, including retail media network Best Buy Ads. She joined Best Buy in 2024 from The Walt Disney Company as president of Best Buy Ads.
• Duane Scarboro in July was promoted to chief fulfillment and operations officer, leading sourcing, supply chain, fulfillment, delivery, service and in-store execution. He has been with the company since 2003, most recently as svp of supply chain distribution operations.

Telsey Advisory Group analysts led by Joe Feldman spoke positively of Best Buy’s CFO transition in a financial note. Bramman “is a seasoned consumer finance executive with public company experience as CFO,” they wrote. “She is known as an effective, capable leader who gets things accomplished. It pairs incoming CEO Bonfig with a consumer and retail expert who has financial and operational experience. And, importantly, she brings fresh perspective from outside the company.”

Former Walmart U.S. leader Greg Foran was named CEO of Kroger in February, placing an emphasis on the grocer’s speed and execution. With that, he has already made several leadership changes:

• Nate Faust will become Kroger’s evp and chief e-commerce officer on Sept. 1, the company announced on Tuesday. This is a new role for the company, according to Grocery Dive. Faust previously served as an svp of e-commerce supply chain at Walmart.
• Milen Mahadevan was promoted to chief data and AI officer, a new position for the company, in March, according to Grocery Dive. He was previously president of Kroger’s 84.51° analytics division.
• Emilee De Martino was named Kroger’s new chief people officer in early July. She was previously chief people officer at McDonald’s. This follows the retirement of chief associate experience officer Tim Massa in September.

At The Home Depot, CEO Ted Decker is taking a “temporary medical leave of absence” for the next few months, CNBC reported Wednesday, leading to a few temporary executive changes:

• Ann-Marie Campbell, senior executive vp of U.S. stores and operations, will oversee day-to-day operations.
• Richard McPhail, CFO, will handle financial management and the pro business.
• Greg Brenneman, lead independent director of the board, will take over as board chair.

Earlier this year, new Walmart CEO John Furner also reshuffled the company’s C-suite in February. In some cases, this shows how the company has been elevating leaders who have grown fast-growing segments of the company like e-commerce, retail media and memberships.

• Seth Dallaire, evp and chief growth officer of Walmart U.S., was named evp and chief growth officer for Walmart Inc. He now oversees the retail media networks of both Walmart and Sam’s Club, as well as the Walmart+ membership program, Walmart Data Ventures, Vizio and the global marketplace business.
• David Guggina became president and CEO of Walmart U.S. after previously serving as chief e-commerce officer and, before that, evp of supply chain operations.
• Chris Nicholas, former president and CEO of Sam’s Club U.S., became president and CEO of Walmart International following the departure of Kath McLay.
• Latriece Watkins was named president and CEO of Sam’s Club U.S. She was previously evp and chief merchandising officer of Walmart U.S. She had been with the company since 1997, when she started as an intern.

What we’ve heard

“We’re seeing an increase in our higher-household-income cohort that’s trading into Bob’s, and that’s been really encouraging from a demand perspective — our demand remains healthy.”

–Bob’s Discount Furniture CFO Carl Lukach told Retail Dive after the retailer’s second-quarter earnings release

Numbers to know

1.5 million: Square footage of Walmart’s proposed fulfillment warehouse in Orange County, New York, according to Supply Chain Dive.

13%: Share of consumers who expect to spend less on back-to-school items than they did in 2025, according to PayPal research.

70%: Percentage of Target’s Halloween assortment that is new this year.

What we’ve covered

Walmart-backed gaming publication lays off editorial team

In December 2024, Walmart did something perhaps out of character: It helped start a video gaming news website, Restart.run. However, Brandy Berthelson — who had been Restart’s editor-in-chief — said on Bluesky last Friday that the “entire editorial team” at Restart was laid off that day. Restart would cover launches of new games and publish reviews and previews of new or recent releases. It prominently disclosed that it was created using funding from Walmart.

Inside Best Buy’s push to sell shoppers on a new generation of TVs

Best Buy is pushing a new generation of RGB LED TVs, hoping that customers will find the technological improvements convincing enough to make an upgrade. The company said in June it had introduced the new TVs to stores and is the only national retailer to carry such TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense — though this excludes manufacturers’ websites and regional retailers. Jason Bonfig, Best Buy chief customer, product and fulfillment officer and incoming CEO, said on Best Buy’s first-quarter earnings call in May that the company believes the RGB LED TVs could be an accelerator for its TV business.

Walmart finally lets advertisers exclude certain search terms

Walmart’s advertising platform is giving brands more control over where they show up in searches, marking a significant change in how their ad budgets are spent. In late July, Walmart Connect said it would give advertisers the ability to exclude specific search terms for sponsored-products campaigns through “negative keywords.” Some advertisers and consultants have been waiting a long time for this change, given that it can exclude irrelevant search queries or searches where customers are already seeking out their exact brand.

What we’re reading

Taylor Farms recalls jalapeño products at Walmart and Target over salmonella risk

Taylor Farms, the agricultural company whose lettuce has been linked to the cyclospora outbreak, is recalling several prepared products sold at Walmart and Target that contain jalapeños, CBS News reported. The products include pico de gallo salsa and guacamole. “A grower in Sinaloa, Mexico that supplies to Coast Citrus Distributors was identified as the potential source in this outbreak,” Taylor Farms said. “Taylor Fresh Foods is no longer sourcing products from this farmer and will be filling orders from alternative suppliers.”

Why brands like Gap Inc. and Staples are inviting their employees to be creators

Employee creator networks are the new creator networks, Digiday reports. Recently, Gap Inc. announced it was opening up its creator program to its employees across Old Navy, Gap, Athleta and Banana Republic, giving them a chance to earn commission by sharing personalized affiliate links on social media. It’s a sign of how quickly these programs are gathering pace. And Kaeden “Oblivion” Rowland’s ASMR-style TikTok videos taken while working at Staples went wildly viral. “It stood out because it was completely authentic, not a manufactured brand moment,” said Bob Sherwin, Staples CMO.