Walmart acquired Bonobos strategically to change its image and attract elite talent
Marc Lore · diapers.com: Marc Lore. The ecommerce visionary who lost to Amazon but still made billions (2021) · Mar 30, 2026 · at 1:07:36
Marc Lore, then President and CEO of Walmart U.S. eCommerce, discusses the rationale behind Walmart's 2017 acquisition of apparel brand Bonobos.
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“The most strategic part of the plan was to change the narrative. I knew that we didn't have the talent inside of Walmart at the time to do what we needed to do. We had to attract the best people in the world, and at that point, you know, honestly, that wasn't the place the best people in the world wanted to go, and so I knew we weren't gonna go anywhere unless we changed the narrative, unless the people Thought that Walmart was now going to be a contender, and buying Bonobos was part of that strategy because that was a cool, hip, modern brand focused on millennials that was more premium product. It basically opened people's eyes and made them look at Walmart differently”
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