Walgreens Names 3 SVPs in Charge of Marketing, Merchandising, Products

Walgreens has named a trio of executives to key leadership positions in the company, the drugstore chain announced Wednesday (May 4).

New leaders Linh Peters (senior vice president and chief marketing officer) Luke Rauch (senior vice president and chief merchandising officer) and Bala Visalatha (senior vice president and chief product officer) are all set to begin their roles this month.

“As strong innovators in their own right, each has an excellent track record when it comes to successfully identifying white spaces across different customer touchpoints and tracking evolving consumer trends, which will be instrumental as we transform our business,” Tracey Brown, Walgreens president of retail products and chief customer officer, said in a press release.

See also: Walgreens’ Q2 Performance Buoyed by Rising Demand for COVID-19 Tests and Boosters

Peters will be charged with overseeing Walgreen’s marketing activities, including marketing collaboration, brand design, positioning, and marketing plan execution.

She comes to Walgreens from Calvin Klein, where she was also CMO and has also worked for Starbucks, Target and Ulta Beauty.

Rauch will be in charge of the leadership, vision, and performance of Walgreens’ merchandising activities, and is a veteran of the company, most recently serving as chief of staff to Roz Brewer, CEO, and vice president of Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Visalatha is taking on the newly created role of chief product officer, responsible for making sure all product solutions are aligned to the customer strategy. He was most recently vice president of eCommerce at Walmart U.S. and has also worked for Sam’s Club, and American Express.

Walgreens recently reported higher-than expected earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 as it saw heavy demand for COVID tests and boosters. The chain recorded its highest comparable sales growth in more than 20 years, with a 14.7% increase year over year in Q2, underlined by a 38% rise in digital sales after 78% growth in that area in fiscal 2021.