The Vitamin Shoppe Promotes Jack Gayton to Senior Vice President of Merchandising

The Vitamin Shoppe has promoted Jack Gayton to the role of senior vice president of merchandising. Gayton will report directly to Sharon Leite, CEO, and assume leadership of the company’s merchant and product development organization.

Gayton succeeds Muriel Gonzalez, president of The Vitamin Shoppe, who announced her retirement after a career in retail spanning over four decades. Gonzalez joined The Vitamin Shoppe in 2020 and played a defining role in advancing the company’s merchant-led specialty retail strategy, accelerated high-quality product development, and strengthened brand partnerships, the retailer reported.

“Jack is an outstanding merchant with strong commercial instincts, a deep understanding of our customer, and a proven ability to identify the brands, products, and trends shaping health and wellness,” said Leite. “We are pleased to recognize and promote talent from within, and Jack’s advancement reflects the meaningful impact he has had across our merchandising organization. I have tremendous confidence in his leadership as we continue to strengthen The Vitamin Shoppe’s position as a trusted destination for quality products, emerging innovation, and expert guidance in health and wellness.”

“Muriel has been an extraordinary leader and trusted partner, and I am deeply grateful for the lasting impact she has made on The Vitamin Shoppe,” Leite continued. “She brought clarity and vision during a defining moment in our evolution, helping to sharpen our product strategy, elevate our proprietary brand development, and deepen the industry relationships that are central to our future. Just as importantly, she has helped prepare the next generation of merchandising talent to carry that work forward.”

Since joining The Vitamin Shoppe in 2019, Gayton has taken on increasing responsibility across the merchant team, supporting brand relationships and establishing first-to-market launches and exclusive products from brands such as Barebells, Clean Simple Eats, David Protein, Ghost, Gorilla Mind, MaryRuth’s, Raw Nutrition, and Transparent Labs.

“The health, wellness, and sports performance categories are evolving in many new directions, creating significant opportunities for The Vitamin Shoppe,” said Gayton. “My mission is to anticipate what customers will want next and bring the most compelling new ideas to market. I’m excited to lead a talented group of buyers and product developers as we build differentiated assortments, strengthen our best-in-class private brands, and unlock new avenues for shared growth with our partners.”

As part of the new merchandising structure, David DiTota has been promoted to vice president/divisional merchandise manager, reporting to Gayton. DiTota has more than two decades of merchandising experience across national retail and technology companies and will help lead The Vitamin Shoppe’s third-party assormtnets and seek out oppoutnities in high-growth categories.