Bonobos founder Andy Dunn says goodbye to Walmart

Andy Dunn, founder of online menswear brand Bonobos, has announced his departure from Walmart, Bonobos' current owner.

Intent on building its online presence to rival Amazon, Walmart bought Bonobos for $310 million in 2017, the same year it bought women’s online retailer ModCloth—a short-lived purchase that Walmart sold to Go Global Retail in October.

At the time of the buy, Dunn joined Walmart as senior vice president of digital consumer brands. Now, the entrepreneur has revealed, via a LinkedIn post, that he will exit Walmart in 2020.

“When I joined Walmart in the summer of 2017, my goal was to leave the company better than I found it,” Dunn wrote.

“I learned a lot more about retail transformation in the digital age at the world’s biggest company. I watched our strategy evolve as we uncorked our unique advantages on a new omni playing field – and began to identify where we aren’t just catching up, but where we are winning.”

Dunn did not say what he plans to do next.

In addition to Bonobos, Walmart’s portfolio of digital companies includes Jet.com, a company purchased by Walmart for $3.3 billion in 2016, as well as Moosejaw and Art.com.

In his letter, Dunn chose to highlight the success of one of Walmart’s non-apparel related offerings: its online grocery service, which shoppers reported using more than Amazon’s comparable service in a 2019 study from the Retail Feedback Group.

Despite this success, Walmart’s digital business appears to be struggling as pressure from e-commerce competitors builds. According to a Vox report, multiple sources said the company is projecting losses of more than $1 billion for its U.S. e-commerce division this year, on revenue of between $21 billion and $22 billion.

Currently, Walmart shares have a market value of nearly $340 billion.

Bonobos founder Andy Dunn says goodbye to Walmart

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