Bath & Body Works Appoints Gina Boswell CEO
After a lengthy search, Bath & Body Works Inc. finally has a new chief executive officer.
The company has appointed Gina Boswell as CEO and a member of the board, effective Dec. 1.
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Sarah E. Nash, who has served as executive chair of the board since February 2022 and interim CEO since May after Andrew M. Meslow’s departure due to health reasons, will remain executive chair through the end of the company’s fiscal year on Jan. 28, at which time she will transition back to chair of the board.
Boswell previously worked at Unilever, first as executive vice president of personal care in North America, before being appointed head of Unilever U.K. and Ireland. Most recently, she was president of customer development for Unilever USA.
She joined Unilever through the acquisition of Alberto Culver Company, where she served as president of global brands. Earlier in her career, Boswell held leadership and business development roles at Avon Products Inc., Ford Motor Company and The Estée Lauder Cos.
Nash said, “The board is confident that her industry knowledge and collective skill set will help the company in continuing to enhance our omni approach, executing our merchandising initiatives, and accelerating growth across channels, categories and regions to ultimately drive enhanced value for shareholders.”
For her part, Boswell added, “I see tremendous potential to leverage the company’s deep customer connections, significant product innovation capabilities and vertically integrated supply chain to advance Bath & Body Works’ growth and drive shareholder value.”
In August, the company revealed that it had eliminated about 130 roles, the majority of which were leadership positions as it pursues “a number of initiatives to improve financial performance and better position the organization for long-term growth.”
The company was formed a year earlier in August 2021, when the former L Brands split into two entities — Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works — and each company began trading individually on the New York Stock Exchange. Bath & Body Works was number 14 on WWD Beauty Inc’s most recent Top 100 Beauty Manufacturers list, with $4.6 billion in sales for calendar 2021.
