Muriel Gonzalez, president of The Vitamin Shoppe, has retired from the health and wellness specialty chain , WWD has learned.
Gonzalez’ retirement triggered the promotion of Jack Gayton, a seven-year veteran of The Vitamin Shoppe, to senior vice president of merchandising, leading the company’s merchant and product development organization. He was previously vice president and general merchandise manager.
“Jack is an outstanding merchant with strong commercial instincts, a deep understanding of our customer, and a proven ability to identify the brands, products, and trends shaping health and wellness,” said Sharon Leite, chief executive officer of The Vitamin Shoppe. “We are pleased to recognize and promote talent from within, and Jack’s advancement reflects the meaningful impact he has had across our merchandising organization. I have tremendous confidence in his leadership.”
Since joining The Vitamin Shoppe in 2019, Gayton has taken on increasing responsibility across the merchant team, “cultivating key brand relationships and consistently bringing distinctive products to customers,” the company indicated. He is credited with helping to establish The Vitamin Shoppe as a launch pad for new and exclusive products from such brands as Barebells, Clean Simple Eats, David Protein, Ghost, Gorilla Mind, MaryRuth’s, Raw Nutrition, and Transparent Labs, among others.
You May Also Like
“The health, wellness and sports performance categories are evolving in many new directions, creating significant opportunities for The Vitamin Shoppe,” said Gayton in a statement. “My mission is to anticipate what customers will want next and bring the most compelling new ideas to market. I’m excited to lead a talented group of buyers and product developers as we build differentiated assortments, strengthen our best-in-class private brands, and unlock new avenues for shared growth with our partners.”
In another change, David DiTota has been promoted to vice president, divisional merchandise manager, reporting to Gayton. DiTota has more than two decades of merchandising experience across national retail and technology companies and will, as the company indicated, “help lead The Vitamin Shoppe’s third-party assortments and amplify opportunities across high-growth wellness categories.”
Gonzalez decided to retire after a distinguished retail career spanning more than four decades.
“Muriel has been an extraordinary leader and trusted partner. I am deeply grateful for the lasting impact she made on The Vitamin Shoppe,” said Leite. “She brought clarity and vision during a defining moment in our evolution, helping to sharpen our product strategy, elevate our proprietary brand development, and deepen the industry relationships that are central to our future. Just as importantly, she has helped prepare the next generation of merchandising talent to carry that work forward.”
Gonzalez joined The Vitamin Shoppe in August 2020 as executive vice president, chief merchandising and marketing officer. Before that, she held senior merchandising roles at Macy’s from 2006 to 2017, rising to executive vice president and general merchandise manager of the retailer’s $3.7 billion beauty business. Earlier at Macy’s, Gonzalez held divisional merchandise manager roles in fragrances, women’s shoes, handbags, accessories, jewelry and intimate apparel. She built up the fragrance business, grew the trendy Impulse beauty department, and changed the face of first-floor beauty and second-floor shoes at the Herald Square flagship. She also brought in brands that were previously unavailable to Macy’s, among them Tom Ford, Kiehl’s, La Mer, Jo Malone, Yves Saint Laurent and Hermès. Gonzalez was named a “Retailer of the Year” by WWD in 2013 and was bestowed a similar honor by Footwear News in 2012.
From 1999 to 2005, Gonzalez was senior vice president and general merchandise manager at Bergdorf Goodman over beauty, accessories, jewelry, shoes, decorative home, intimate apparel, swim and coats, nearly doubling revenue in those categories in five years. Before that, she was a senior vice president of marketing at Estée Lauder North America; executive vice president, chief marketing officer at Ann Taylor; vice president, divisional merchandise manager at Saks Fifth Avenue, and a merchant at the former John Wanamaker store.
“I originally decided to retire when I was at Macy’s. I thought I was done working full-time, but I was lured out of retirement by Sharon back in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic,” Gonzalez told WWD. “I never intended this to be a long-term situation but here I am, six years later, retiring again. The time has come to pass the baton.
“The Vitamin Shoppe is a great company with a great culture, a great mission and great people that will continue to do well,” Gonzalez said. “For a merchant there is nothing more exciting than growth and finding growth, and there was such opportunity with sports nutrition which we really launched and made big. A lot of the principles in beauty — how to maximize business and go after brands — were very applicable here. lt’s really been a blast at The Vitamin Shoppe.” Now, Gonzalez added, she plans to spend more time with her grandchild, travel, and get involved in consulting for profit and nonprofit organizations.
