Shipt taps Target executive as next CEO

Grocery delivery service Shipt is hiring Target’s senior vice president of operations as its new CEO. Kamau Washington has been with Target, Store Brands’ 2021 Retailer of the Year, since 2018.

At Target, Witherspoon helped oversee Target’s extensive private label collection, along with partner operations, supply chain initiatives, operational planning and more. Prior to that experience, Witherspoon served as chief restaurant excellence officer for the KFC US division of Yum! Brands and senior vice president of operational performance and readiness at UnitedHealth Group. Witherspoon will replace Kelly Caruso in March, another Target veteran who began as CEO of Shipt in 2019.

"Kamau's vast experience leading teams and operations at scale will help drive Shipt's continued growth and deepen the commitment to its team, partners, customers and shoppers," said John Mulligan, Shipt board chairman and Target chief operating officer. "Under Kelly's strategic leadership, Shipt has experienced more growth than at any point in its history."

After it was acquired by Target in 2017, Shipt has continued to be run independently from its company headquarters in Birmingham, Ala. In 2021, Shipt announced it would add nearly 1,000 store locations.