Dive Brief:
- Store No. 8, Walmart's startup incubation arm, is looking to launch a new tech-centered business, according to a job posting for a CEO spot to develop and lead a "stealth company."
- The CEO would be tasked with "building a business from scratch and will set up all operations, build the team, manage the P&L of the business, and eventually scale and grow the business to gain market leadership," according to the job posting. The new CEO would also work closely with Walmart executives and its board.
- A Walmart spokesperson did not immediately respond to Retail Dive's request for comment on the position and the forthcoming company. Store No. 8 has several businesses under its umbrella, but only some are publicly named, including JetBlack and Spatialand.
Dive Insight:
Just about two years ago, Walmart announced the launch of Store No. 8, a Silicon Valley-based retail startup incubator designed to nurture and accelerate technologies. The aim was to keep Walmart competitive five, seven and even ten years down the road.
Since then, the company has publicly disclosed only a few of its ventures, including Spatialand — a virtual reality company that caught the company's eye at its Innov8: V-commerce summit in 2017. Last year, Walmart moved another company out from beta testing: JetBlack, a membership only text-based service that caters to wealthy New York City moms. That company is being led by Rent The Runway Co-Founder Jenny Fleiss.
Now, Store No. 8 is now looking to kick up another venture, although there are few details as to what the industry and customers can expect next. Notably, within the job posting, requirements include "necessary experience with AR and VR technologies as well as building successful apps in the space," and the ability to "manage market and competitive threats."
Katie Finnegan, founding principal of Store No. 8 and CEO of Spatialand, told Retail Dive early in 2017 that Store No. 8 had roughly four to six projects in various stages of development, ranging from robotics to grocery delivery.
"All shopping isn't considered a chore, and I think sometimes from my perspective it's a one size fits all response to what's going to happen," Finnegan said. "What excites me is the ability to really enhance things that need to be enhanced, so customers can spend time where they want, and then to streamline and remove friction in things that have way too much friction in them.
