Foot Locker, Inc., the New York-based specialty athletic retailer, announced that, as part of a planned succession process, Richard A. Johnson will retire as president and CEO, effective Sep. 1, 2022. Mary N. Dillon, former executive chair and CEO of Ulta Beauty, Inc., has been appointed president and CEO and a member of the Foot Locker board, also effective Sep. 1. Johnson will continue as executive chairman of the board through Jan. 31, 2023. He will step down from the board at that time, subsequently remaining with the company as a senior advisor to the CEO until early April 2023 to facilitate a smooth transition.
Johnson has had a distinguished three-decade-long career at Foot Locker, including having served as the company’s CEO since 2014, following two years as COO and holding multiple other divisional leadership roles. During Johnson’s tenure, he has led the development of the company’s strategic imperatives and long-term plan, overseen sales growth to approximately $9 billion in 2021 from roughly $7 billion in 2014, been responsible for several investments and acquisitions, including WSS and Atmos in 2021, led Foot Locker’s digital transformation and strategy to expand into new geographies as well as diversify product mix across brands and categories, along with strengthening the company’s focus on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) initiatives.
Dillon has over 35 years of experience leading consumer-driven businesses in various industries, from consumer-packaged goods to restaurants to telecom to beauty and retail. She brings deep consumer marketing and digital transformation expertise, strong operational experience, a proven track record of shareholder value creation and a demonstrated commitment to leadership development. Most recently, she served as executive chair of Ulta Beauty, after having served as CEO for eight years, and was responsible for guiding the company as it became the leading beauty destination in the U.S. and a successful omnichannel retailer with a best-in-class loyalty program. This led to a revenue CAGR of 16 percent and the tripling of the company’s market capitalization over her tenure. Previously, Dillon served as president, CEO and a member of the board of directors of U.S. Cellular, global CMO of McDonald’s Corp., and held leadership roles at PepsiCo. Dillon also has extensive public company board experience.
