John Walden (businessman)

John Carl Walden (born 7 January 1960) is an American businessman and the former Chief Executive of Home Retail Group.[1]

Early life

Walden was born in Chicago, Illinois.[2] He received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1986, and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1994.[3][4]

Career

In 1990, Walden began his retail career as Chief Operating Officer of Peapod. In 1999, he joined Best Buy as the President of its Internet and direct channels division. He then became the company's Executive Vice President of Human Capital and Leadership and, subsequently, the Executive Vice President of its Customer Business Group.[3]

After Best Buy, Walden moved to Sears, where he acted as Chief Customer Officer and Executive Vice President. Afterward, he served as the President and CEO of Inversion Inc. and as Chief Executive Officer of Activeion Cleaning Solutions.[3]

He became Managing Director of Argos on 1 February 2012[5] before joining Home Retail Group as its Chief Executive Officer on 14 March 2014.[6][7] In 2016, it was announced that Walden would be stepping down as the CEO of Home Retail Group once Sainsbury's acquired the business.[8]

In November 2018, Walden was hired as Chairman of Holland & Barrett.[9] In 2019, it was announced that Walden would replace Greg Hodder as chairman of Majestic Wine.[10]

Personal life

Walden is married, has five children, and lives in Chicago.

References
  1. Companies House
  2. "Argos exec John Walden: 'When I first joined, people didn't think Argos had a future at all'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  3. "Alumni - IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law - Illinois Institute of Technology". alumni.kentlaw.iit.edu. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  4. Inc, FTD Companies (2017-02-01). "FTD Companies, Inc. Announces Appointment of John C. Walden as President and Chief Executive Officer". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2020-11-21. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. "New Argos boss John Walden warns he could close 'unusual' shops". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2020-11-22.
  6. "How Argos's revival has it leading the digital revolution". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2020-11-22.
  7. Appointment
  8. "Home Retail Group: John Walden To Step Down Upon Completion Of Acquisition". RTTNews. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  9. Jahshan, Elias (2018-11-14). "Holland & Barrett taps ex-Homebase boss John Walden for chairman role". Retail Gazette. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  10. "Majestic plunges to loss amid 'advanced' talks to sell retail business". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
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