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John Carl Walden (born 7 January 1960) is an American businessman and served as chief executive or chairman of several U.S. and U.K.-based consumer businesses including Home Retail Group, Holland & Barrett, Snowfox Group and Motorpoint Group. [1]
Walden was born near Chicago, Illinois. [2] He received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1986, his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1994, and his B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois in 1983. [3] [4]
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 Holding Company, where he acted as chief customer officer and executive vice president. Afterward, he served as the founder, president and CEO of Inversion Inc. and as chief executive officer of Activeion Cleaning Solutions. [3]
He became managing director of Argos Ltd., the U.K.'s largest general merchandise retailer, in February 2012 [5] and was promoted to chief executive officer of Argos' parent company, Home Retail Group in March 2014. [6] [7] In 2016, it was announced that Walden would be stepping down as the CEO of Home Retail Group upon sale of the group to Sainsbury's. [8]
In March 2017 Walden was hired by FTD Companies Inc. to assist in the turnaround of this U.S. based floral and gifting business. November 2018, Walden was hired as executive chairman of Holland & Barrett Ltd, the U.K.'s largest independent health and wellness retailer. [9] In 2019, it was announced that Walden would be hired as chairman of Majestic Wine. [10] . He later served as chairman of Naked Wines plc after the de-merger of Majestic Wines. Walden has also served as chairman of Snowfox Group (formerly YO Sushi), an international food business; ScS Group plc, a U.K.-based furniture retailer; and Motorpoint Group plc., a U.K.-based omnichannel used car retailer.
Walden has five children and lives in Chicago.
Poundstretcher Limited is a British variety store chain, founded in 1981 by Paul Appell and Stephen Fearnley. The retailer is currently based in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, and since April 2024 has been a subsidiary of the Fortress Investment Group.
GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the Glorious Gussies amongst stockbrokers. The company started out as Universal Stores, a mail order business created by the Rose family. In 1931, Isaac Wolfson joined the mail order company and would, through a series of takeovers, turn it into a retail, manufacturing and financial conglomerate, becoming Europe's biggest mail order firm and with over 2,700 physical stores. His son, Leonard Wolfson, followed him as chairman, to be succeeded by his nephews David Wolfson (1996–2000) and Victor Barnett (2000–2002). During the 1980s, the business divested much of its physical retail and manufacturing subsidiaries under Leonard Wolfson to concentrate on mail order, property and finance. In October 2006, the company was split into two separate companies: Experian which continues to exist, and Home Retail Group which was bought by Sainsbury's in 2016.
Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England.
Stuart Alan Ransom Rose, Baron Rose of Monewden, Kt is a British businessman and life peer, who was the executive chairman of Marks & Spencer until 2010, remaining as chairman until early 2011. He was knighted in 2008 for his services to the retail industry and created a Conservative life peer on 17 September 2014, taking the title Baron Rose of Monewden, of Monewden in the County of Suffolk.
FTD LLC also known as Florists' Transworld Delivery, is a floral wire service, retailer, and wholesaler based in Downers Grove, Illinois, in the United States. FTD was founded as Florists' Telegraph Delivery in 1910, to help customers send flowers remotely on the same day by using florists in the FTD network who are near the intended recipient. It was based in Detroit, Michigan, and then moved to Southfield, Michigan, prior to its move to Downers Grove. It originated as a retailers' cooperative and began a process of demutualization in 1994. It operates two main businesses: The Consumer Business sells flowers and gift items through its websites and The Floral Business sells computer services, software and even fresh cut flowers to FTD and Interflora affiliated florists.
Follett Corporation is an American technology company headquartered in Westchester, Illinois. Follett is a provider of educational services and products to colleges, schools, and libraries.
Charles Giles Clarke, is a British businessman then cricket administrator, who was chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Majestic Wine is a British wine retailer based in Watford, England. The company employs more than 1,300 employees nationwide, and operates more than 200 stores across the United Kingdom.
Jeffrey J. Clarke is the current Executive Chairman at Florists' Transworld Delivery.
Dunelm Group plc, trading as Dunelm, is a British home furnishings retailer operating in the United Kingdom. One of the largest homeware retailers in the UK, the company headquarters are in Syston, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Until 2013 the company traded as Dunelm Mill.
Moss Bros Group is a limited company set up in 1851 by Moses Moss in Covent Garden, London, UK. One of the UK's top menswear shops, specialising in dress wear for formal occasions, Moss Bros has over 150 shops throughout the United Kingdom. It was, until 2020, listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index, before being delisted.
Baker & Taylor, a distributor of books to public and academic libraries and schools, has been in business for over 190 years. It is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and currently owned by President & CEO Amandeep Kochar. Before being acquired by Follett in 2016, Baker & Taylor had $2.26 billion in sales, employed 3,750, and was #204 on Forbes list of privately owned companies in 2008.
Naked Wines is an online wine retailer, founded by Rowan Gormley which launched in the UK on 1 December 2008.
Qurate Retail, Inc., also known as Qurate Retail Group, is an American media conglomerate controlled by company chairman John C. Malone, who owns a majority of the voting shares.
John Browett is a British businessman and former chief executive of Dunelm Group and Monsoon Accessorize. He was the senior vice-president of retail at Apple Inc. from April 2012 to October 2012.
De Nunzio has extensive experience in the European retail and consumer goods sectors as a finance professional, CEO and chairman.
David Alan Tyler is a British business executive, chair of Domestic & General, JoJo Maman Bébé, and PZ Cussons. He is also chair of the Parker Review. He is a former chair of Sainsbury's, Logica, and Hammerson, and a former CFO of GUS.
Currys plc is a British multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company headquartered in London, which was formed in 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse Group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
John Murray Allan is a British businessman. He previously served as president and vice president of the Confederation of British Industry, and is a former chair of the supermarket chain Tesco and current chair of the housebuilder Barratt Developments.
Régis Schultz is a French businessman, currently the CEO of JD Sports. During his career, Régis Schultz held the positions of President of Retail at Al-Futtaim Group, CEO of French retail chain Monoprix and member of the executive committee of Groupe Casino, CEO of Darty, CEO of French retailer BUT and top executive of Kingfisher PLC.