Monica Arnaudo, Ulta’s chief merchandising officer, has revealed plans to retire in the spring of 2025. Ulta is yet to name her successor.
Arnaudo joined the retailer in October 2017 as senior vice president, merchandising, before stepping into the chief merchandising officer role in 2019. Prior to that she was senior vice president, sales at Clarisonic and held the same title at Bare Minerals and Buxom. In addition, she has had stints at the likes of Sephora, L’Oréal, the Estée Lauder Cos., Chanel and Nordstrom.
“Ulta Beauty has been just the best company. I’ve been here just over seven years now, and so it’s hard for me to close this corporate chapter of my life,” she said in an interview. “This year marks 45 years in the beauty industry for me. I started when I was 16 so I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and what the next chapter of my life could be, so I’m ready to make this change. I love this industry so much and I love it because of all the great products, but really, what I love the most about it is the people.”
Among her proudest moments at the retailer is building out its Conscious Beauty platform, which used five pillars — clean ingredients, cruelty-free, vegan, sustainable packaging and positive impact — to guide shoppers.
“We took a lot of time to build that out, because we really wanted to launch something that celebrated and recognized all the great work that our brand partners were doing in this space and also educate the consumer on this journey that was hard to navigate.”
She also mentioned signing the 15 Percent Pledge, highlighting new and emerging brands and launching wellness.
Dave Kimbell, chief executive officer at Ulta Beauty, said: “I have had the pleasure of working alongside Monica since she joined Ulta Beauty in 2017, bringing decades of beauty and merchandising experience to our team. In her time leading our merchandising organization, Monica has elevated our assortment in ways that have helped us deliver remarkable results for our company and brand partners, while furthering our mission to be our guests’ most loved beauty destination. Her passion for people and the opportunities she’s paved for her team and our associates will have a lasting impact. We will forever be grateful for her contributions to Ulta Beauty and our industry as a whole and look forward to celebrating her on her next chapter.”
