Bed Bath & Beyond add merchandise planning exec

Bed Bath & Beyond has named John Welling its senior vice president of merchandise planning, allocation and operations, effective immediately.

Welling joins Bed Bath & Beyond with decades of experience across the retail industry. He previously was senior vice president of planning and allocation at J.C. Penney, and also has held senior merchandising, planning and operations roles at Michaels. 

He joins Bed Bath & Beyond as the retailer takes a new approach to its merchandising, particularly with regard to private label. To read more about BB&B's private label efforts, read SB's November 2020 cover story here. 

Before joining Michaels, Welling was at Walmart, where he spent more than 10 years in global leadership roles in inventory management and regional operations. He also spent more than a decade at Accenture, where he was a partner in the North American Retail Practice. 

“John brings industry-leading experience in retail transformation, inventory management, merchandise planning and store operations, expertise that will help advance our foundational capabilities, improve the experience for our customers, and drive increased profitability across our assortment,” said Joe Hartsig, Bed Bath & Beyond's chief merchandising officer and president of Harmon Health & Beauty Stores. 

Welling will be responsible for helping lead the transformation of Bed Bath & Beyond's inventory planning and replenishment strategy. In addition, he will oversee the evolution of space and assortment planning to optimize merchandise in store, ensure a more consistent, high-quality customer experience, and support the recently announced store remodels, which include investments of approximately $250 million over the next three years.