Operations
24 April
Walmart sells another DTC brand, Vince signs with Authentic Brands
Dealboard has the latest from Hershey, Rally and an American super app.
Dealboard has the latest from Hershey, Rally and an American super app.
This week, Walmart offloads another digitally native brand, ABG is adding a new retailer and Hershey is bringing on a pair of popcorn manufacturing facilities. Plus, there’s new funding for composable checkout and an American super app.
Check out the latest deals:
For the second time in as many weeks, Walmart is selling a digitally native brand it acquired in the last decade to boost ecommerce.
On Friday, the retailer announced that FullBeauty Brands will acquire the plus-size brand Eloquii.
With the deal, Eloquii will become an anchor tenant in a new digital mall from FullBeauty Brands, which has a universal cart that allows shoppers to check out from any of the retailers in the mall. The brand will help FullBeauty expand its presence in the $81 billion U.S. women's plus-sized sector.
Walmart acquired Eloquii for $100 million in 2018, as it sought to grow a stable of digital brands under then-ecommerce chief Marc Lore. The sale of Bonobos, Moosejaw and now Eloquii this year underscores that Walmart is now pursuing a different ecommerce strategy centered on a marketplace, as opposed to owning a series of retailers. As we wrote after a similar deal to sell Bonobos was announced last week:
Like Amazon before it, Walmart found that the key to ecommerce growth was not owning a portfolio of omnichannel labels like Bonobos, but building out services that could power new and high-growth digital businesses.
The brands, each with their own sites and stores, were not the engine of growth; rather, it was the infrastructure that merchandised and delivered items from Walmart's digital shelf.
While terms of the deal that would indicate whether Walmart sold off the retailer at a price below acquisition, the world’s largest retailer seems to clearly be in sale mode. The Eloquii deal is one more piece of evidence indicating that Walmart doesn’t want to be a house of brands. Don’t expect it to be the last.
Authentic Brands Group is adding a new name to its portfolio.
The parent of Aéropostale and Nautica, entered into a deal that will see it acquire 75% of a holding company that oversees the retailer Vince. Under the deal, Vince will contribute intellectual property to a new holding company called ABG Vince for $76.5 million in cash and a 25% membership interest in the new company. Vince will also enter into a long-term licensing agreement with Vince.
“We are pleased to enter into this transformative partnership with Authentic which will provide us the necessary capital to strengthen our balance sheet allowing for opportunities to enhance our focus on driving margin expansion, and focusing on our strategic growth initiatives including leveraging our enhanced e-commerce capabilities and CDP platform, expanding our international presence, growing our Men’s business and selectively opening new retail doors in the U.S.,” said Jack Schwefel, CEO of VNCE, in a statement. “Through this strategic partnership we will also benefit from leveraging Authentic’s expertise and Lifestyle and Entertainment platforms, which provide opportunities to grow the Vince brand into adjacent categories and territories.”
The Hershey Company has a deal in place to acquire two facilities from Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing.
The plants, located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Whitestown, Indiana, will help to bolster production capabilities for SkinnyPop, which Hershey acquired for $1.6 billion in 2017 to expand in the salty snacks category. Adding the new locations plants will create more “flexibility, agility and resiliency” for brands across Hershey’s salty snacks portfolio, which has grown rapidly through SkinnyPop and additional acquisitions like Pretzels Inc.
Ninety-year-old, family-owned Weaver is already a co-manufacturer for SkinnyPop. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Rally, a composable checkout platform for ecommerce merchants, raised $12 million in a Series A funding round.
The financing was led by March Capital, with participation from Felix Capital, Commerce Ventures, Afore Capital, Alumni Ventures and Kraken Ventures. With the deal, March Capital Partner Hyun Koo will join Rally’s board.
Launched in 2020 by Carthook founders Jordan Gal and Rok Knez, Rally said its platform allows merchants to offer one-click checkout that is “bespoke,” so merchants can choose what works best for their teams.
Super.com, a super app built around providing savings to customers, closed a Series C funding round at $85 million.
The financing was led by Inovia Capital. New investors include Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, Ancestry.com CEO Deb Liu, former Slack CFO Allen Shim, former CFO of Slack, Golden State Warriors CFO Josh Proctor, Substack CEO Chris Best, Confluent CTO Neha Narkhede, CTO MyFitnessPal cofounder Mike Lee, co-founder of MyFitnessPal, Hyphen Capital, EDC and Plaza Ventures. Along with Inovia, existing investors include Telstra Ventures, Acrew, Lion Capital, Full In Partners and NBA superstar Steph Curry.
The new round comes months after Super.com rebranded from Snapcommerce and launched SuperCash, a cashback card that offers savings across shopping and travel, as well as opportunities to build credit. Drawing inspiration from super apps used internationally, the company calls it “an all-in-one savings super app for everyday Americans.”
On the Move has the latest hiring updates from Honest, Mondelez and more.
This week, Walmart has a new top US merchant, Sephora has a new CMO and The Honest Company is bringing on a chief growth officer. Plus, Mondelez makes a key promotion and a digitally native scalp brand taps a new leader for retail expansion.
Latriece Watkins was named chief merchandising officer at Walmart US. The 24-year veteran of the company was previously EVP of consumables, and held a variety of senior leadership roles in merchandising, store operations and human resources. Now, she will succeed Charles Redfield.
“Her enthusiasm, talent and deep experience helped establish the omni merchandising strategy we have today, and her focus on customers and members will only strengthen our position in the future,” Walmart US President John Furner wrote in a company-wide email.
Zena Srivatsa Arnold will become chief marketing officer at Sephora US. Succeeding Deborah Yeh upon her transition to chief purpose officer, Arnold most recently served as VP of carbonated soft drinks at PepsiCo, and previously served in leadership roles at Kimberly-Clark, Google, Kellogg Company and Proctor & Gamble.
“With a knack for disruption, Zena brings extensive experience in not only building and growing brands but driving initiatives that reach clients digitally,” a post from Sephora on LinkedIn states. “We’re thrilled to have Zena bringing her expertise to Sephora and helping us shape the future of beauty.”
Digitally native consumer products company The Honest Company hired Kate Barton as chief growth officer, filling a key role under recently-appointed CEO Carla Vernón. Barton will work directly with the Honest leadership team on a new transformation initiative.
Barton was previously the chief brand officer at Magnolia, the lifestyle brand founded by Chip and Joanna Gaines. She also served as executive director of marketing at Estee Lauder’s Aveda, and worked at Procter & Gamble and General Mills.
“As someone passionate about building brands with story and impact, I could not be more thrilled to join The Honest Company,” said Barton, Chief Growth Officer of The Honest Company, in a statement.
Deepak Iyer was promoted to the role of VP of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa at Mondelez International. Iyer is rising from a previous role as president of India and Southeast Asia.
The AMEA business generates $6.8 billion for Mondelez. With the promotion, Maurizio Brusadelli is transitioning out of the company for another opportunity.
“With close to three decades of leadership experience and a strong track record of success driving the growth of brands in emerging markets across Asia and Africa, Deepak is the ideal leader to continue our strong and sustained growth across the AMEA region,” said Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put, in a statement. “Under his leadership these past six and a half years, India has delivered strong, profitable growth and become a consistent exporter of talent and best practices across our global network.”
Bianca Gonzalez was named the next general manager of WSS, a retailer focused on Latino communities.
Gonzalez is joining Foot Locker from Nike, Inc., where she previously served as VP of North America Product Merchandising and held leadership roles in marketing, merchandising and sales.
"Blanca's vast knowledge of the sneaker industry attained throughout her tenure with our great partner Nike will be an incredible asset to our WSS business, which has tremendous potential," said Chief Commercial Officer Frank Bracken. "Blanca's remarkable experience, understanding of our diverse customers, and personal roots within WSS's home turf will help deepen our relationships within communities and expand WSS's unique offering of culturally connected experiences.
Caroline Scharton was named vice president of retail at Divi as the scalp health brand looks to expand to more brick-and-mortar locations around the country.
Scharton has previously led sales and retail strategies at Neutrogena, Exuviance, Marc Jacobs Fragrances, and Calvin Klein cosmetics. Most recently, she served as director of sales at the cosmetics brand Babe Original, and previously served as national sales director at ~Pourri.
“Over the past year, there has been increasing interest from consumers in hair care products made with clean ingredients, which has caused retailers to make space for a wider variety of offerings,” said Scharton, in a statement. “There are incredible opportunities in this space and I look forward to working with the talented Divi team to drive growth and successfully expand the brand into new retail locations. Divi's powerful scalp health and hair care products are truly game-changers for your wellness routine, and I am thrilled to introduce them to even more consumers.”
Rupali Jain joined digital experience platform Optimizely as chief product officer.
Jain brings experience in leadership roles at software companies including Microsoft and Qualtrics. In the new role, Jain will focus on advancing new applications of AI and machine learning for marketers.
“Optimizely has an incredible portfolio of best-in-class solutions, and we needed a product leader who has the experience to scale market-leading SaaS platforms. We found that leader in Rupali,” said Alex Atzberger, CEO of Optimizely, in a statement. "With Rupali’s history of championing user needs and prioritizing innovation that creates tangible customer value, we’re confident that she will play a vital role in our mission to redefine how marketing and product teams work together to create and optimize digital experiences.”
Optimizely serves brands such as Glossier, Nike and Saks.