Big Lots’ new CMO carries wealth of private brand experience

Perhaps a sign that Big Lots will further look to focus on its private brands business, the discount retailer has hired a former grocery and private brands leader at Walmart and a Daymon executive to become its executive vice president, chief merchandising officer.

The Columbus, Ohio-based retailer has tapped Jack Pestello to succeed Lisa Bachmann, who is retiring, and Pestello will assume the role July 27. The retailer recently announced a merchandising shift toward own brand consumables, where Pestello certainly fits. The company also said it expects same-store sales for the second quarter to be well above 20%.

Pestello comes to the discount store from Walmart where he spent five years as its senior vice president of private brands, where he was responsible for nearly doubling sales while significantly reducing sourcing costs. His most recent position at the retail giant was as senior vice president, general merchandise manager for Walmart’s grocery business.

He also spent time as vice president of Walmart’s international division where he led the global consolidation of supplier partnerships and built an international framework and strategic platform for the private brands business. Prior to Walmart, Pestello served in a number of positions in value-oriented and consumer-focused businesses including CMO of Woolworths Australia and in business development and operations roles at Daymon Worldwide.

"We're very pleased to welcome Jack to Big Lots and are confident that the strong balance of strategic and executional skills he brings to our team will make an immediate positive impact," said Bruce Thorn, president and chief executive officer of Big Lots. "Jack is a true value retail merchant, with a proven track record in strategic sourcing and implementing merchandising strategies to drive traffic. We look forward to benefiting from his industry expertise and insights as we continue to execute on our strategic initiatives to generate long-term, sustainable growth."

Pestello said he’s excited to leverage his brand-building and merchandising experience to further advance Big Lots' momentum. 

"Delivering a compelling customer experience and maintaining deep customer connections is more important than ever in today's retail environment," he said.