Names Tracey Koller as Chief Merchandising
Officer and Sharmila Sudhakar as Group Vice President and Head of
Digital Commerce
Walgreens, the leading independent retail pharmacy and
healthcare provider, today announced two key leadership
appointments: Tracey Koller, senior vice president and chief
merchandising officer, and Sharmila Sudhakar, group vice president
and head of Walgreens digital commerce. The company believes these
new appointments will significantly contribute to its efforts with
regard to the turnaround of the business as the company focuses on
enhancing the front of store and omnichannel experience for its
customers while driving in-store efficiencies.
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Tracey Koller, Chief Merchandising
Officer. (Photo: Business Wire)
“Our retail pharmacy business is uniquely positioned to expand
the role we play in the lives of our patients who have come to
expect and need retail pharmacy at the center of their care,” said
Tracey Brown, executive vice president and president, Walgreens
retail and chief customer officer. “To do this, we are investing in
the industry’s best talent, which includes the addition of Tracey
and Sharmila to the Walgreens leadership team. With their strong
track records of delivering results in omni-channel solutions and
merchandising, I know they will be critical contributors to our
growth and success as we deliver an efficient, highly relevant
customer experience.”
Tracey Koller
As the chief merchandising officer, Koller will be responsible
for leading merchandising strategy across all categories, and the
deployment of merchandising plans and programs that will drive
Walgreens’ competitive advantage. This includes leadership of
product mix, supplier relationships and merchandising
operations.
Throughout her career, Koller has gained a reputation as a
highly collaborative leader who is passionate about the integration
of customer insights with products and services.
Most recently, Koller was chief merchandising officer at Party
City. She brings more than 30 years of experience and a successful
track record in omni-channel merchandising and operations at
organizations including News Corp, Whole Foods and Target.
“I am amazed by the trust Walgreens has built in communities
across the US and the impact the company has on the millions of
lives it touches each day,” said Koller. “It’s an exciting time to
join the Walgreens merchandising organization as the company
sharpens its focus as a destination for areas it is uniquely
positioned to lead, such as health and beauty and women's health,
while also reevaluating its assortment to ensure its relevancy,
leveraging select partners and Walgreens own brands.”
Sharmila Sudhakar
Sharmila Sudhakar is joining Walgreens as group vice president
and head of Walgreens digital commerce, where she will be
responsible for driving its digitally initiated revenue growth
across various business lines, including retail products, pharmacy,
photo services and health services and strengthening digital
engagement through omni-channel solutions. In this role, she will
lead the end-to-end digital team including digital planning and
operations, partnerships, product management and analytics.
Sudhakar is a tenured omni-retail executive with deep digital
experience and a proven track record of delivering profitable
growth.
She joins Walgreens from Tailored Brands, where she served in a
number of leadership positions, most recently as vice president /
general manager of the North America ecommerce business for The
Men’s Wearhouse and Moores. She brings more than 20 years of
experience developing cohesive omni-channel assortments that
reflect market trends and customer needs, launching and optimizing
compelling omni-channel customer journeys and driving quality
traffic through performance marketing channels for well-known
brands including Walmart, Tile, Gap Incorporated and eBay.
“With a 125-year heritage, Walgreens has earned the right to
engage with customers and patients in a way few others can rival,
and it’s exciting to join at a pivotal time in the company’s
history,” Sudhakar said. “I look forward to working with the highly
talented team at Walgreens to accelerate our digital and
omni-channel offerings that meet our customers when, where and how
they want to engage.”
These leaders will begin their new roles in late August. Stay up
to date on all of the latest news from Walgreens, please visit
www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.
About Walgreens
Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is included in the U.S. Retail
Pharmacy and U.S. Healthcare segments of Walgreens Boots Alliance,
Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail
leader. True to its purpose of “more joyful lives through better
health,” Walgreens has a more than 120-year heritage of caring for
communities and providing trusted pharmacy services, and today is
playing a greater role as an independent partner of choice offering
healthcare services that improve care, lower costs, and help
patients. Operating nearly 9,000 retail locations across the U.S.
and Puerto Rico, Walgreens is proud to serve nearly 9 million
customers and patients daily. The company’s pharmacists are playing
a more critical role in healthcare than ever before, providing a
wide range of pharmacy and healthcare services, including those
that drive equitable access to care for some of the nation’s most
underserved populations. Walgreens offers customers and patients a
true omnichannel experience, with fully integrated physical and
digital platforms designed to deliver high-quality products and
healthcare services. Within the U.S. Healthcare segment, Walgreens
portfolio also includes businesses in primary care,
multi-specialty, post-acute care, urgent care, specialty pharmacy
services, population health and provider enablement.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All
statements in this release that are not historical including,
without limitation, those regarding the achievement of and
execution on our business and financial goals and strategy,
including efforts to turnaround the business and the impact of new
leadership with regard thereto, are forward-looking statements made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions
and uncertainties, including those described in Item 1A (Risk
Factors) of our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2023
and in other documents that we file or furnish with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove
incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated
or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made.
We do not undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty or obligation
to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of
this release, whether as a result of new information, future
events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
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Molly Sheehan media@walgreens.com
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