MMR: Mass Market Retailers, June 22, 2020

MASS MARKET RETAILINGS MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN General Electric Empire BCBS and U S Healthcare and many board positions for several public companies including Kindred Healthcare Donigan says she wants to build on the existing Rite Aid business to unleash the real power and mission of our pharmacists and then to revitalize the brand to really go after a different target audience to go after a growth target Though only with the company a short time Donigan is confident in the brands future and in its ability to turn around and succeed She points specifically to the strong results in the CAMP HILL Pa In August 2019 Heyward Donigan became the president and chief executive officer of Rite Aid Corp taking the reins of a company she saw as facing some tough challenges but also one with a great deal of potential Donigan came to Rite Aid as an industry veteran having held several executive positions including president and CEO of Sapphire Digital formerly Vitals president and CEO of ValueOptions executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Premera Blue Cross senior vice president of all operations at Cigna Healthcare executive roles at Ulta leverages its digital abilities to support demand A key part of the job is giving voice to team members to improve overall effectiveness companys pharmacy sector especially to where the sector had been prior to her arrival In particular Donigan believes Rite Aid can not only revitalize retail but significantly grow its pharmacy benefit manager business We are a 7 billion company So we feel that we have the scale we need to grow the way that we plan to grow she says To grow the PBM business Donigan says there are several components that need to be integrated to fully leverage the companys opportunities which she says is currently taking place Specific to its PBM business Donigan says the company is focused on regional health plans because Rite Aids PBM is independent and is not owned by a larger health plan There are regional health plans that are not Cigna are not Aetna and are not United that are looking for an alternative in Donigans view which do not want to give their money to a competing health plan As far as pharmacy capacity Rite Aid despite its growth over the last year or so hasnt grown as much as CVS which Donigan sees as a positive specifically as it allows room for expansion Expressing a desire to unleash the real power and mission of our pharmacists Expanding and broadening its pharmacy capacity is not just a goal but something Rite Aid must do in order to provide services over and above just filling prescriptions So you can see our outstanding results in vaccinations and flu shots Our results are outstanding she says As Rite Aid rolls out its new strategies for growth and changing the trajectory of the company onward and upward integral to that is the new look and functionality of its stores One area in which consumers will notice that change is in the merchandise which Donigan says will start to evolve sometime between August and October As part of this radical shift in the companys merchandise Donigan says the company will be eliminating about 50 of the goods currently taking up space that are not good for consumers or are not on trend or relevant Some of the merchandise the company plans on scrapping are electronics motor oil clothing slippers as well as such categories as pesticides team members expertise and experiences are brought to bear on initiatives aimed at improving organizational effectiveness At Dollar General we operate at the speed of retail she says Were running fast to meet demands which makes us test quickly so we succeed quickly or fail fast so its often acceptable to get near the finish line roll out new programs and then implement these changes quickly For finance professionals like me it can be a bit uncomfortable not to have everything comprehensively tested and proven before implementing change but GOODLETTSVILLE Tenn Kelly Dilts is approaching her one year anniversary with Dollar General Corp where she proudly serves as senior vice president of finance responsible for financial merchandise and market planning business and customer insights and procurement Dilts and her team provide colleagues with the business intelligence and analytics necessary to help the major retailer growing in size and profitability An important part of her job is giving voice to the finance teams that she supervises to make sure its absolutely the right thing to do for Dollar General Dollar Generals pace of expansion which includes the planned addition of 1000 new stores in fiscal 2020 requires communications across diverse teams whose members may not necessarily work with each other every day As head of several finance teams Dilts strives to make sure the interests and ideas of her team members are given their due My job as a leader isnt to get my ideas pushed through My job is to get my teams ideas pushed through because ultimately were more successful as a team and a company if we listen she says I feel very passionate about hearing everyones voice I had mentors throughout my whole career who helped make my path easier by following in their wake and hopefully I can provide the opportunity for someone to follow in mine Dilts identifies a diverse range of influences on her life and career I truly feel like it took a village she says For me its my parents who never told me I couldnt do something the Girls Scouts leader who fostered me as a young leader my sixthgrade teacher who made me feel like I had a special spark and could achieve success and my mentor I was fortunate enough to have had my whole career Very early on when I was a staff accountant she wanted to know what I thought on a topic and was genuinely interested in my ideas even in a room full of much more experienced team members That action really impressed upon me that I can have a voice and seat at the table To this day she and I are still very close Ultimately I believe people are an accumulation of their experiences and relationships and I feel very lucky to have had great people around me Authenticity and trust based leadership are important aspects of her management style Dilts says I really feel authentic leadership is key to building trust with teams which then facilitates good discussions and healthy conflict ultimately leading to results The push into digital commerce realized an unexpected dividend this spring when the coronavirus pandemic compelled Ulta Beauty to temporarily close all 1264 of its stores in 50 states Ulta leveraged its existing digital capabilities to support a spike in demand for such essentials as shampoo face masks and bath products The retailer also encouraged customers to use Glam Lab its interactive experience within the Ulta Beauty app that allows users to virtually discover and try thousands of beauty items When we began 2020 we certainly did not plan to operate BOLINGBROOK Ill Over the past seven years chief executive officer Mary Dillon has built Ulta Beauty into a retail powerhouse by presenting stores as an inviting space for beauty enthusiasts to experiment with new looks and products or experience salon services Dillon was an early adopter of digital innovations such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality that not only enhance instore experiences but also offer a fast fulfillment proficiency that gives Ultas online shoppers the nearly instant gratification available in stores digital only business but Im very proud of how quickly our teams pivoted to support our ecommerce operations Dillon said last month on Ultas first quarter earnings call Our marketing team shifted rapidly to create highly relevant digital content sensitive to the mindset of our guests at that time a focus on connection self care and positivity while also acknowledging new consumer behavior such as social distancing and wearing masks Dillon has extensive experience leading consumer driven brands and leveraging consumer insights to build brand engagement She arrived at Ulta Beauty in 2013 after three years as president and CEO of U S Cellular Earlier she served as global chief marketing officer at Mc Donalds Corp and as president of the Quaker Foods division of PepsiCo Dillon graduated in 1983 from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in marketing and Asian studies Dillon in 2020 has raised her profile as a retail industry advocate In January she became board chair of the Retail Industry Leaders Association RILA a position she has used to call on Washington to protect the livelihoods of the one in four U S workers in a retail industry being buffeted by the pandemic With more than 80 of our revenues previously generated in stores we knew that the expected acceleration in e commerce would not recoup all of the lost brick and mortar sales Dillon said last month So early in the COVID 19 crisis we took several precautionary steps to protect liquidity and enhance our financial flexibility Though not recession proof the beauty category fared better than many discretionary categories in earlier downturns Dillon noted We know from our proprietary research and engagement that the beauty category remains strong despite the uncertainty many guests are experiencing Within the beauty category our diverse assortment combined with convenient locations strong brand awareness and our differentiated loyalty program position us to gain market share in a challenging economic environment Most importantly I believe our values based guest and associate centric culture and commitment to high performance will enable us to continue to expand our leadership position Mary Dillon CEO Ulta Beauty Kelly Dilts Senior VP Finance Dollar General Heyward Donigan President CEO Rite Aid 36 MMR June 22 2020