Kelly Garcia steps down from Ulta Beauty Board to assume Chief Technology Officer role
Garcia has served on the company’s Board of Directors since 2022.
USA – Ulta Beauty has appointed Kelly Garcia as Chief Technology Officer, effective August 31, 2026.
Garcia is set to resign from the board when he takes up the executive role.
In his new role, he will be in charge of Ulta Beauty’s technology function and oversee the company’s IT efforts across the enterprise.
Kecia Steelman, president and chief executive officer, stated, “Kelly has been an impactful member of our Board of Directors, providing valuable business insights and technology expertise, including perspectives on emerging technologies such as AI, and we are excited to enhance our executive team with his leadership as our new CTO.”
“With more than 25 years of leadership and broad experience across global e-commerce, customer loyalty, digital innovation, and cybersecurity, Kelly will be a great addition to our team as we continue to advance our technology capabilities and execute our Ulta Beauty Unleashed strategy to drive market share growth and deliver long-term value for all our stakeholders.”
Garcia most recently served as Executive Vice President and CTO of Domino’s Pizza, a position he held since July 2012, where he led the company’s technology vision and strategic initiatives supporting global operations.
Before that, he was Vice President of Business Intelligence and North American Operations at R. L. Polk & Company, and he holds a B.S. in computer science and engineering from The Ohio State University.
The appointment of Kelly comes shortly after the nomination of Christopher DelOrefice as new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Ulta Beauty.
He succeeded interim CFO Chris Lialios, who will continue in the role until DelOrefice formally assumes the position.
In this role, he oversees the company’s financial planning, manages financial risks, maintains accurate records, and prepares financial reports.
Meanwhile, Ulta Beauty recently reported strong first-quarter fiscal 2026 results for the 13 weeks ended May 2, 2026, with net sales rising 11.1% year over year to USD 3,163.9 million from USD 2,848.4 million.
The performance was driven by a 5.3% increase in comparable sales (up from 2.9% in the prior year), the acquisition of Space NK, and sales from 70 net new Ulta Beauty stores opened since May 3, 2025.
Comparable sales growth was fueled by a 3.7% increase in average ticket and a 1.6% rise in transactions.
Gross profit increased 13.8% to USD 1,267.6 million, with gross margin expanding to 40.1% of net sales from 39.1%, primarily due to lower inventory shrink and higher merchandise margin.
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