Petco advances organizational design for next phase of growth

Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc recently announced an evolution in its organizational design and new roles to allow continued growth by maximizing its end-to-end ecosystem for customers. The company's model features over 200 veterinary hospitals and over 1,000 veterinary clinics, grooming, training and owned and exclusive brands, to serve its over 24 million customers.

According to a company release,¹ to further support its leadership team in executing Petco's strategy in putting customer first, the company made these appointments:

• Amy College, chief merchandising officer, is going to be responsible for demand planning. This is to enable her and her teams to drive an even sharper, integrated view of product and customer demand. College's background managing omni-channel businesses and demand planning at Best Buy will help her succeed in this position.
• Jason Heffelfinger, senior vice president services, has been promoted to chief services officer. Heffelfinger has been key to the build-out of the company's owned veterinary model, including the acquisition of its Thrive joint venture and smaller veterinary hospitals. He also spearheaded rapid advancement of Petco's grooming business.
• Darren MacDonald, chief digital and innovation officer, is taking on an expanded role as chief customer officer. MacDonald will lead customer-focused teams including his current digital team, plus marketing, membership, loyalty, enterprise analytics/data science and customer service. In the new role, MacDonald will add on his prior experience leading customer centric organizations at Jet, Walmart.com and IAC.
• Justin Tichy, chief pet care center officer, has been named chief operating officer, taking on additional responsibility for company-wide logistics including managing the company's distribution centers. He will further run Petco's over 1,400 Pet Care Centers in the US and, by strengthening the connection between distribution and Pet Care Centers, the right inventory will be in the right places to meet customer demand. Tichy will maximize his experience throughout Walmart, Target and Best Buy to advance Pet Care Centers and Distribution.

Additionally, Petco announced that Mike Nuzzo, chief operating officer and president of services, will be leaving the company after working there for 7 years.

"These appointments and our organizational design are emblematic of our focus on putting the customer and data at the center of everything we do as we meet the customer need of a single partner for the health and wellness needs of their pet. It also manifests our dedication to driving operational excellence. Lastly, it highlights the tremendous talent we have at Petco and our focus on developing that talent," said Petco CEO, Ron Coughlin, in the release.

"I also want to express my deep thanks to Mike who has served in many leadership roles at Petco, from CFO to COO and President of Services, and who has left an indelible mark on our company," Ron added.¹

Reference

Petco evolves organizational design to enable next phase of growth. News release. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. August 9, 2022. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/petco-evolves-organizational-design-to-enable-next-phase-of-growth-301602844.html