Walgreens reportedly makes leadership changes, trims corporate staff
Walgreens is making leadership changes and trimming its corporate staff.
Luke Rauch, Walgreens chief merchandising officer and Robert Tompkins, GVP and general merchandise manager are reportedly departing from their roles. Walgreens also is trimming its corporate staff, per a Crain's Chicago Business report.
The news follows the abrupt resignation of Rosalind Brewer as CEO in September and the appointment of Tim Wentworth as new CEO on Oct. 23.
Rauch has been responsible for overall merchandising strategy and execution across the chain's 9000+ locations. He was previously chief of staff to the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, where he rhelped drive the company's pivot toward healthcare through an overhaul of the corporate strategy and culture.
[Read more: Walgreens names Tim Wentworth as next CEO]
Prior to that, Rauch was group vice president of customer experience and general manager of Owned Brands for Walgreens. In this role, he led the central customer experience function, and was responsible for defining overall CX strategy to drive creation of differentiated customer experiences in line with the Walgreens mission. He also led the Owned Brands (Private Label) business at Walgreens, overseeing product development, commercialization and branding for the entire portfolio.
Prior to Walgreens, Rauch worked in Deloitte Consulting’s strategy practice where his experience included growth strategy, new product/market entry, digital strategy and marketing strategy. He received his undergraduate degree from University of Michigan along with his MBA from the Ross School of Business.
[Read more: Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Rosalind Brewer steps down as CEO]
Walgreens Boots Alliance also is laying off 267 employees, its second round of corporate staff reductions in recent months.
Fraser Engerman, a Walgreens spokesperson, told Drug Store News, “As we continue to streamline our operations and focus on our critical priorities to best serve our patients and customers we are making the difficult decision to eliminate 267 roles which account for 5% of our corporate workforce. None of these roles are based at our stores. We are grateful for the many contributions by the team members who will be leaving our company and we are committed to supporting them as much as possible during this transition."