Lululemon Creates Two Top Jobs, a Product President and a COO, and Opens Four More Executive Searches

Lululemon rebuilt the top of its organization on October 7, creating two jobs that didn't exist and opening four more searches. Maggie Gauger, who ran Athleta, becomes president and chief product officer. Joseph Godsey, a Walmart Canada executive, becomes chief operating officer. Both start October 26, and the company's own announcement calls both roles newly created.

The two departures are Nikki Neuburger, chief brand and product activation officer, and Ted Dagnese, chief supply chain officer, both leaving November 6. That is the part to watch: brand and supply chain are the two functions that lose their heads. Godsey's remit, as FashionUnited describes it, covers sourcing and production, fulfillment and planning and allocations, so the supply chain work looks to land under him. Brand has no such home yet. Lululemon is searching for a chief brand officer, a chief communications officer and a chief technology officer, plus a chief strategy officer who will report to CFO Meghan Frank. Until the brand and technology seats are filled, Frank takes interim oversight of both on top of finance.

Who is coming in

Gauger was president and CEO of Athleta and, per FashionUnited, has more than 28 years in the industry, two decades of them at Nike. At Lululemon she will oversee design, merchandising, footwear, product innovation and materials science. Giving one person all of product, including footwear, is a statement about where the company wants to compete next.

Godsey was chief growth officer at Walmart Canada and before that chief supply chain officer at Sam's Club. FashionUnited reports he spent 15 years at Adidas in digital and supply chain roles. Both new executives come with years at big sportswear and retail names behind them.

What the CEO said

CEO Heidi O'Neill framed it as a reset. "lululemon is a rare, extraordinary brand, but we have work to do to build a stronger and more competitive company," she said in the announcement, which calls the changes "an important first step" in reinvigorating the company's connection with its guests. André Maestrini stays as president and chief commercial officer, and the company's legal and people chiefs stay in place.

The announcement gives no figures, and says only that the two will leave "to pursue other opportunities". Neither the company nor FashionUnited ties the changes to sales. The read from here is structural: product and operations now each have a single owner, and the brand seat, the one that shapes how Lululemon looks and sounds, is empty until a hire lands.