Bath & Body Works Names Unilever Vet Gina Boswell CEO

Bath & Body Works has found its new CEO in Gina Boswell, a 30-year veteran of the beauty and personal care industry.

The company announced her appointment in a news release Wednesday (Nov. 2), saying she would take the job beginning Dec. 1. She will replace interim CEO Sarah Nash.

Boswell’s arrival is happening at the tail end of a hectic year for Bath & Body Works, which has seen its stock price chopped in half and the resignation of former CEO Andrew Meslow due to health reasons.

In August, the personal care and fragrance retailer — which has around 2,000 stores worldwide — cut 130 jobs in what it said was a move to promote long-term growth and efficiency. That news came with the announcement that the company’s second-quarter sales had dipped slightly to $1.6 billion, a 5% drop year over year.

Prior to her hiring, Boswell held leadership roles at Estee Lauder and Unilever, where she oversaw 20 personal care brands, including Dove, Axe, Vaseline, Suave and Degree, the release stated.

Nash praised Boswell’s “customer-centric mindset, multi-channel expertise and passion for building high-performance cultures,” in the release.

Earlier this year, Nash told investors that the company had begun using increased data analytics to “transform Bath & Body Works into a true omnichannel business,” capitalizing on fashion trends and newness in its packaging and products.

Boswell echoed that drive toward an omnichannel future for the company in her comments in the news release. The company’s most recent earnings report showed that a bulk of its sales come from in-store purchases.

PYMNTS’ “Beauty, Wellness Merchants Get Smart Digital Payments Makeover” found in April that consumers are increasingly looking online for their beauty and wellness purchases, with 12% reporting that they did so more in 2021 than they did at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

That makes keeping on top of digital trends and capabilities “essential for merchants in an industry where much of their competition already embraces advancements such as live online assistance and product recommendations powered by smart algorithms,” the study noted.

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