Dive Brief:
- Ulta Beauty on Monday named current Chief Operating Officer and President Kecia Steelman as its new CEO, effective immediately. Steelman also joined the company’s board.
- Dave Kimbell, who has been the retailer’s chief executive since longtime CEO Mary Dillon stepped down in 2021, will retire from that position and the company’s board of directors. He will serve as an adviser through June 28, according to a company press release.
- Kimbell has worked in various leadership positions with the beauty retailer for a total of 11 years. During his time as CEO, the company grew to over $11 billion in annual revenue.
Dive Insight:
Just a few years into Kimbell’s tenure as CEO, Ulta has tapped a new leader to take over. Steelman, who has led the beauty retailer’s Target partnership, will helm the company going forward.
“On behalf of the Board, we are grateful to Dave for his guidance, dedication, and integrity, and for the significant contributions he has made to Ulta Beauty,” Lorna Nagler, chair of Ulta Beauty’s board of directors, said in a statement.
Steelman has been with the company since 2014 and was named president and chief operating officer in 2023. It’s the second consecutive internal CEO appointment at Ulta, with Kimbell serving in executive roles for many years prior to taking the helm in 2021.
The move comes at an unusually tough time financially for Ulta, which has seen slowing sales growth and cut its guidance twice last year prior to raising it in December. The beauty retailer has slowed its store opening cadence in recent years and regularly cited increasing competition as a reason for its more challenged position. That includes Sephora’s Kohl’s partnership, which has pursued a swift expansion to the department store’s full 1,200-door fleet while Ulta as of October was in just 500 Target stores.
"We're sad to see Mr. Kimbell go, as he has been a key force in the share appreciation over the past several years," Piper Sandler analysts led by Korinne Wolfmeyer said in emailed comments. "That said, we've also spent time with Ms. Steelman in the past and believe she's a natural fit to continue the positive transformations Mr. Kimbell started, particularly around supply chain and customer engagement."
Steelman has been a large driver of the beauty retailer’s shop-in-shop partnership with Target and this fall said the deal was attracting a different consumer and leading shoppers to trade up to prestige products. Ulta Beauty loyalty members who have connected their Target account also spend twice what the average member does, she noted.
That’s not the only place Ulta is looking for expansion, though. In addition to a plan to open in Mexico this year, Ulta is growing its customer reach by embracing wellness and the growing men’s beauty market.
At the time of the executive announcement, Ulta also updated its fourth-quarter outlook following a strong holiday season. The company now expects comparable sales will increase “modestly” and its operating margin will be on the high-end of its previously stated range of 11.6% to 12.4% of sales. Although that update is encouraging, Piper Sandler noted that there is still the month of January ahead and "it would be irresponsible to think we're now fully out of the woods when it comes to competitive and promotional pressures heading into FY'25."
