Kecia Steelman is Promoted to President of Ulta Attractiveness – WWD

Kecia L. Steelman, Ulta’s important running officer who’s considered in trade circles as a possible successor to important government officer Dave Kimbell, has added president to her name.

Within the joint roles, Steelman has accountability for company technique, data generation, pack and services and products operations, provide chain, Ulta Beauty at Goal, enterprise-wide transformation and loss prevention.

That comes with inventory shrink — the too much between balance-sheet stock and untouched book this is ceaselessly blamed on arranged retail crime — which has weighed on Ulta’s rude margin. As a part of that, she has led Ulta’s exit to fasten up perfume in cupboards in 70 p.c of shops by means of the top of the 12 months.

“What we’re seeing is in the initial stores that we rolled out the locked fragrance cases for, we actually saw sales improvement because we were in stock with the product,” she stated all over an August name with analysts to speak about Ulta’s most up-to-date income.

Steelman used to be named important running officer in 2021 when Kimbell used to be appointed CEO. Previous to that, she has been important pack operations officer since 2015. In the past, she used to be team vp at Community Buck Shops from 2011 to 2014.

“Kecia is a talented executive with a proven track record of driving operational excellence while fostering a caring and inclusive culture and creating exceptional guest experiences,” stated Kimbell. “Over the last year, Kecia has increased her scope and influence within our organization, and this expanded role recognizes her value to the company and her many contributions to our success, while also demonstrating our ongoing confidence in her leadership to help us drive profitable growth for the company over the coming years.”

Endmost day, Ulta raised its full-year outlook at the again of a robust 2d quarter. The beauty store now expects internet gross sales to return in at a dimension between $11.05 billion and $11.15 billion. In the past it had forecast $11 billion to $11.1 billion. Estimates for diluted earnings according to proportion had been lifted to $25.10 to $25.60, from $24.70 to $25.40.