Dive Brief:

• Ulta Beauty named Christopher DelOrefice as its next chief financial officer, effective Dec. 5, per a company release Thursday. Chris Lialios, who has been serving in the role on an interim basis, will return to his former position of senior vice president and controller.
• DelOrefice joins the beauty retailer from medical technology company Becton Dickinson & Company, where he had served as CFO since 2021. Prior to that position, he worked for over 20 years at Johnson & Johnson.
• In becoming Ulta’s CFO, DelOrefice will receive an annual base salary of $980,000 and a sign-on cash payment of $1 million, per a company filing.

Dive Insight:

Ulta’s new executive appointment is the latest update in a series of major changes this year.

“Chris brings deep financial expertise and a proven track record of delivering leading financial performance and building high performing, engaged teams across global organizations,” Kecia Steelman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “With demonstrated experience leading core finance functions, global operations, strategy, corporate development, and enterprise transformation for public companies, Chris will be a great partner to our team as we continue to execute our Ulta Beauty Unleashed strategy and deliver long-term value for all our stakeholders.”

The move comes after former Ulta Beauty CFO Paula Oyibo exited the company in June. Oyibo, who had been at Ulta Beauty in various financial roles for nearly six years, served as CFO for about a year. No reason was cited for her departure. Lialios took over the position on an interim basis while a search began for a permanent successor. 

DelOrefice’s appointment also comes during a period of change at Ulta.

The mass retailer is under the leadership of Steelman, who took on the CEO spot in January after serving as COO. She’s been with Ulta since 2014, and marked the company’s second consecutive internal hire for the CEO spot. 

Since Steelman started the new role this year, the retailer has named a new chief marketer and a chief merchant and digital officer, as well as launched its own marketplace.

Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment rife with major trade policy changes, Ulta has performed well this year.

The company’s Q2 net sales grew 9.3% year over year to $2.8 billion and Ulta raised its full-year guidance in August. Some of that growth was due in part to the acquisition of U.K. retailer Space NK earlier in the year, marking a major global expansion for Ulta. 

Its results demonstrated that at least some consumers are continuing to spend on beauty, despite it being considered a discretionary category.