LOS ANGELES, CA - 99 Cents Only Stores announced that Ashok (Ash) Walia has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, where he will be responsible for overseeing finance, accounting, treasury, marketing, and IT functions for the company, effective August 27, 2018. He succeeds Felicia Thornton, who will continue in her position as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Number Holdings, Inc—the discount retailer’s parent company.
"99 Cents Only Stores is one of the most differentiated names in deep-discount retail, and I couldn't be more excited to serve as the company's new CFO,” said Walia in a recent press release. “The talented team at 99 Cents Only Stores has created a solid foundation, and I look forward to building on the strong operating momentum and helping the company achieve the next level of growth and profitability."
Walia brings a wealth of financial leadership, retail and supply chain expertise to his new role. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance at Starbucks Corporation, where he was responsible for leading corporate finance with a focus on controllership, treasury, post M&A integration, global tax, and customs as well as U.S. facilities management. In this capacity, Walia had oversight of capital spend on a company-wide basis from a financial planning and analysis perspective.
Prior to that, he was Starbucks' Senior Vice President of Global Integrated Logistics/Supply Chain Business Operations. In this role, Walia was responsible for enterprise-wide supply chain logistical operations and finance and accounting. Prior to his roles at Starbucks, Walia held positions at the Kellogg Company, leading up to Global Vice President, Finance, where he had financial oversight for manufacturing, logistics, direct store delivery, and capital management operations at various manufacturing facilities. Walia holds a Bachelors of Commerce degree from the University of Delhi, New Delhi.
"I am delighted to welcome Ash as our new CFO," said Jack Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer." Ash has decades of highly relevant experience at prominent multinational consumer companies, where his expertise in finance, operations, logistics, and supply chain management contributed to significant improvements to operational efficiencies and bottom-line profitability. We believe he will be an excellent fit and is ideally suited to lead the finance, IT, and marketing teams at 99 Cents Only Stores, as we execute our operational, financial, and strategic objectives."
Congratulations to Ashok Walia and the 99 Cents Only team!
