Ulta's Remarkable Growth Story featuring Dave Kimbell, CEO (E)
Remarkable Retail
The Exciting Story of Ulta Beauty
I grew up in Indianapolis and my first job was actually in banking and commercial lending, but decided that wasn't where I wanted to focus my career. So after business school made the shift into consumer businesses, mostly on the CPG side,. First at Procter & Gamble, in beauty didn't know then that my career would circle back to beauty. Then a number of years at Pepsi and in Chicago spent some time in Burlington, Vermont at cool company which is now called Ulta Beauty.
Welcome to a special encore episode of the podcast, where we open up the back catalogue and share some of our favourite and most popular episodes that are worth a second (or perhaps your first) listen.
Today we bring you our exclusive interview with Dave Kimbell, CEO of beauty retailer Ulta. First, Steve gives us a powerful update on Ulta's performance under the leadership of Dave since 2022. Both their financial performance and market share expansion are genuinely remarkable.
Ulta has become one of the most remarkable growth stories in all of retail, growing from a small regional player to an $8 billion powerhouse with more than 1,300 stores and an expanding presence within Target. Dave discusses the brand's evolution and some of the keys to their success, including a relentless focus on the customer (instead of channels), the importance of human-connection and storytelling and why physical stores remain critical to their growth strategy.
About Dave
Dave was named Chief Executive Officer in June 2021 after having previously served as President since December 2019, Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer since March 2015 and Chief Marketing Officer since February 2014. Prior to joining Ulta Beauty, he served as Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President at U.S. Cellular, Chief Marketing Officer of Seventh Generation, Vice President of Marketing at PepsiCo, and held a number of brand management roles in the Beauty Division of The Procter and Gamble Company from 1995 to 2001. Dave currently serves on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and Chicago lights, and is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago.
October 2021 Ulta Investor Day Presentation
March 2023 Ulta Investor Presentation
About Us
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks , The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and now in its second season, Conversations with CommerceNext! You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
About Us
Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
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