Walmart Moves Home and Beauty Merchandising Under Its Fashion Chief
Walmart U.S. has combined its fashion, home and beauty merchandising businesses into a single organization led by Denise Incandela, according to a memo chief merchandising officer Julie Barber sent to merchandising associates, as reported Monday by Retail Dive. The memo calls the new organization the Style Strategic Business Unit. Incandela joined Walmart in 2017 and has most recently served as executive vice president of fashion for Walmart U.S.
In the memo, Barber said the change is meant to bring the three businesses’ teams, expertise and capabilities closer together and build on their momentum.
Beauty and Home Now Report Into a Fashion-Led Organization
According to the memo, Vinima Shekhar and the beauty merchandising organization move into the style unit from consumables. In its fiscal 2026 annual report, Walmart lists home as a general merchandise category alongside fashion and reports health and beauty aids as consumables within grocery.
The beauty business Shekhar’s team brings with it has been changing for more than a year. The Associated Press reported in April that a beauty bar concept Walmart piloted in 40 stores had expanded to hundreds. It also reported that Walmart expected to have trained beauty experts in more than 400 stores by the end of 2026. As part of 650 remodels planned for this year, the company was moving beauty departments to the front of stores. The AP described the beauty refresh as part of a broader Walmart effort to upgrade its merchandise as it attracts higher-income shoppers.
On the home side, the memo moves the team led by Kaitlyn Shadiow into the unit. Retail Dive describes that team as covering entertainment, toys, seasonal, hardlines and home, while describing the new unit itself as merging fashion, home and beauty. The account does not make clear whether categories beyond home are moving with Shadiow’s team.
The memo also moves product development teams. The home product development organization led by Christine Solley-Kane becomes part of Style Private Brands under Jen Jackson Brown. Josh Camarena and the design team for Shadiow’s segment join Paul Wreakes, vice president of fashion brand and design, and private-label strategist Casey Davies moves into the unit reporting to Camarena.
The Fashion Bench Is Being Rebuilt at the Same Time
Walmart is also restructuring fashion merchandising itself. According to the memo, Walmart will hire a senior vice president of fashion merchandising. Laura Janney becomes senior vice president of women’s, intimates and men’s, leaving her previous role over kids, shoes and jewelry open. Janney and Walmart Fashion executive Jessica Schaff will report to the new senior vice president. Lauren Pakan continues to lead business development on the style leadership team.
Execution gets its own leadership. Leslie Leonard moves to merchandising execution as senior vice president of merchandising enablement, supporting inventory execution. Todd Owen will lead merchandising execution for style.
Barber Names Style and Trend as a Place Walmart Needs to Win
Barber tied the reorganization to a merchandising aspiration Walmart recently shared. It centers on creating the offerings and experiences customers love most, with leading in style and trend named as one of the places Walmart needs to win. She wrote that customers look to Walmart for inspiration, trends and solutions across fashion, home, beauty and the broader assortment, in stores and online. She told associates that “winning in style requires us to operate differently.”
Walmart’s most recent earnings call reported strength in both fashion and home. On the August 20 call, Walmart U.S. president and chief executive David Guggina told analysts that Walmart was seeing strength in style, trend, fashion and toys. He said the Scoop and Free Assembly private brands were posting triple-digit comps. In home, he said decor outperformed during back-to-college, with candles, throws, rugs and lamps posting double- and triple-digit comps. On the same call, chief financial officer John David Rainey said share gains among higher-income shoppers came partly from Walmart’s assortment. He also said more elevated, higher-priced merchandise was one reason inventory rose in the quarter.
Home and Beauty Suppliers Face New Reporting Lines Mid-Transition
For 1P suppliers in home and beauty, the immediate change is organizational. Their categories now roll up to a leader who has run Walmart’s fashion business, in a unit Barber has tied to leading in style and trend. The senior vice president of fashion merchandising has yet to be hired, and Janney’s former kids, shoes and jewelry role is open. Suppliers should confirm merchant contacts and escalation paths ahead of upcoming line reviews. The memo as reported covers Walmart’s own merchandising organization and its store and online assortment. It describes no changes to Marketplace, so the effect on 3P sellers is indirect.
Barber once ran part of the structure she has now redrawn. According to her Walmart biography, before serving as chief merchant for Sam’s Club she held senior leadership roles in Walmart U.S. that included leading general merchandise, with responsibility for categories spanning entertainment, toys, seasonal and home. The home business she oversaw from general merchandise now sits with fashion under Incandela.
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