Home Depot’s CMO Trish Mueller Resigns After 5 Years in the Top Marketing Role

Director of corporate communications Stephen Holmes confirmed to Adweek today that Mueller announced her resignation approximately two weeks ago and that she has been replaced by president of online operations Kevin Hofmann, who will hold both titles.

In a statement, Mueller said, "It was an honor and a privilege to work at The Home Depot as CMO for the past 5 years!" She added, "For now, I have decided to take some time off to consider what's next, but I will always 'bleed orange' and be grateful for working for, in my opinion, the best retailer in America."

Mueller became vice president of advertising at Home Depot in 2009 after serving as svp of marketing and advertising at Sports Authority. She was promoted to CMO in 2011. Earlier in her career, she held similar positions at retailers including Montgomery Ward, ShopNBC and American Signature-Value City. She has also been an independent director on the board of Dave & Buster's since 2015.

Hofmann joined the chain in 2006 as a vice president leading its technology teams with a focus on ecommerce, supply-chain transformation and international operations. He was later promoted to vp of Home Depot's installation division before being promoted again to lead all aspects of its online business in 2013. He previously spent a decade at GE in various leadership positions handling technology, social networking, business intelligence, renewable energy and other corporate functions after working for eight years in research, manufacturing and technology with Dow Chemical.

"[Hofmann's promotion] allows us to further integrate our digital assets to optimize our interconnected retail model," Holmes told Adweek. "When you look at the growth and expansion of digital marketing, the combination of the physical and digital storefronts and things we are doing to integrate those elements to create an interconnected retail experience for consumers, having Kevin take on the CMO role in addition to his responsibilities as president of online makes a lot of sense."

The Richards Group has been Home Depot's creative agency of record since 1993. The indie shop beat out JWT,  GS&P and Hill Holliday to retain the business in a 2008 review.

The chain moved its media account from Interpublic Group's Initiative to Dentsu Aegis Network's Carat in 2011.