Joe Hartsig brings three decades of executive, general management and board leadership experience to Spencer Stuart’s Consumer Practice. He has deep transformational and growth acumen in retail, wholesale and consumer products across a wide array of categories including food and beverage, health and beauty, consumer durables, consumer services and technology.
Joe is known for his exceptional results, high quality of service and collaborative, hands-on approach. He is well-positioned to identify and assess new commercial talent and help senior leaders optimize their leadership teams for higher performance.
30+ years of transformational Fortune 500 CPG leadership
- Joe has completed searches across consumer, retail, distribution and services businesses for CEO, CFO and commercial roles, including chief commercial, chief operating, chief sales and chief marketing officer roles.
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Previously, he managed multibillion-dollar P&Ls, including as executive vice president, chief merchandising officer at Bed Bath & Beyond and as president of Harmon Stores, where he led transformational turnaround efforts delivering positive comps and strong margin improvements.
- At Walgreens, Joe served as senior vice president, chief merchandising officer, overseeing more than $25 billion in sales and managing a wide assortment of consumer goods and omnichannel transformational efforts across 9,000 stores and a large online platform. He also led marketing as senior vice president where he drove the integration of physical and digital, enabling an improved customer experience and stronger brand loyalty.
- Joe also served as a corporate officer at Walmart, doubling market share in electronics as senior vice president/general merchandise manager at Sam's Club. Prior to Walmart, he was the chief merchandising and marketing officer at Essendant and also spent nine years in global leadership roles at Motorola, where he helped establish the company's global number one position in Bluetooth consumer products.
- Joe also served 10 years in progressive brand management roles at CPG leaders like Conagra Foods, Pillsbury and SC Johnson managing well-known brands by driving innovation and market share gains.
Joe brings significant board of director experience in the consumer sector, having served on the boards of JOANN Stores, Rite Aid and Evriholder Products. He is also a former advisory board member for the Global Retail Marketing Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the Northwestern Retail Analytics Council and the Consumer Electronics Association. His nonprofit work includes board work at Hope Ignites (formerly Boys Hope Girls Hope), Ozark Guidance and Enactus.
He holds an M.B.A. in marketing, finance and international business from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.A. in business administration and Spanish from Hillsdale College.