Walgreens Hires New Private Brand Leader

Pharmacy chain Walgreens has announced the hiring of retail and CPG veteran Marty Esarte, who will serve as the group VP of the company’s owned brands. Beginning at the end of August, Esarte will be responsible for overall leadership of the retailer’s private label strategy.

During his 20+ year career, Esarte has gained experience across private brands, merchandising and marketing, and most recently led the front-end merchandising team at Walmart. Prior to that role, Esarte managed the Walmart food division’s private brand products across fresh, snacks, beverages, packaged goods, frozen and dairy, leading the private brand business strategy, product development, sourcing and quality teams. Esarte also has experience from previous roles at Clorox Co. and Conagra.

Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens operates nearly 9,000 retail locations across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and serves about 9 million customers daily.