Walmart Names New Head of Beauty
Walmart has named a new head of its beauty business, WWD has confirmed.
The world’s largest retailer has named Creighton Kiper its newest vice president of merchandising, beauty. The announcement comes weeks after Kiper’s predecessor, Musab Balbale, departed the company.
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Kiper previously held the role of merchandising vice president of wellness at Walmart. Last year, at Fairchild Live’s Wellness Forum, he said that Walmart’s vast consumer base — which purportedly counts 90 percent of Americans as monthly shoppers — is interested in both inner and outer beauty.
“Whether it’s personal care, beauty, fitness, diet, we definitely are seeing changes that benefit retail, and most importantly, the customer,” Kiper said at the time, adding that he was keen on including niche wellness trends like chlorophyll water, which achieved viral status on TikTok, in the retailer’s assortment.
Walmart is in the throes of modernizing its beauty assortment, too. Balbale introduced a slew of new indie brands in a bid for the Gen Z beauty shopper during his tenure, exemplified by its launch of Uoma by Sharon C., the mass market sister brand to Sharon Chuter’s Uoma Beauty. It also co-created a hair care line, called Next of Us, with Procter & Gamble.
For more from WWD.com, see:
EXCLUSIVE: Sharon Chuter Launches ‘Uoma by Sharon C.’ Mass Beauty Brand
P&G Beauty’s Alex Keith, Walmart’s Musab Balbale on Brand Cocreation
How Walmart’s Musab Balbale Melds Scale and Innovation
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