CTO Karen Beebe on How Culture Drives Innovation at Bealls, Inc.
In this episode of Women in Retail Talks, Women in Retail Leadership Circle Co-Founder Melissa Campanelli interviews Karen Beebe, chief technology officer at Bealls, Inc., a legacy family-owned retailer outfitting families for less in over 650 stores across the U.S. Listen in as Beebe discusses top takeaways from the 2025 National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show, including her recognition as a Retail Voices by NRF honoree (1:25), as well as her retail career journey that led to her current role at Bealls (4:20). She shares three leadership lessons learned from navigating challenging times, including the COVID-19 pandemic (6:00), and the importance of company culture to driving innovation (7:30).
In addition, Beebe discusses leading Bealls through multiple technology integrations in the last two years as the company modernizes its tech stack (9:40), creating a more seamless omnichannel experience for its customers (12:00) and empowering store associates to meet customer expectations (12:45). Lastly, she shares actionable advice for aspiring female technology and retail leaders (13:45) and highlights from her interview on the Matt Beall Legacy podcast (17:20).
This episode was recorded at the 2025 National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City.
Karen Beebe is chief technology officer (CTO) for Bealls, Inc., a privately held omnichannel retailer founded in 1915 with more than 650 stores in over 24 states operating as Bealls, Bealls Florida, Home Centric, and Reel Legends. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of technology for the organization. Prior to joining Bealls, Inc., Beebe held numerous leadership positions at vineyard vines, including CIO and senior vice president of operations encompassing distribution, logistics and business process improvement, as well as head of e-commerce during COVID.
Throughout her career, Beebe has held retail management positions in technology as well as merchandise planning, allocation, operations, and internal audit. At Chico’s FAS, Inc., she was senior vice president, application development and delivery, and at Limited Brands, Inc. she was chief technology officer for Bath and Body Works and vice president, business solutions group for the multibrand, international enterprise.
Beebe has been part of executive leadership teams that have won two CIO 100 Awards and has also served on many technology vendor user boards in global leadership and advisory positions as well as on nonprofit boards. She was named in RIS News and Chain Store Age “Top Woman in Retail Tech” in 2018 and was selected as the HMG Strategy “2019 Top Technology Executive to Watch.” In 2020, she was awarded the 2020 New York CIO of the Year® ORBIE® Award in the corporate category. Most recently, the Bealls, Inc. team received the 2024 ONCON ICON AWARDS Top 50 Technology Team award.
Date: February 3, 2025
Credits: Karen Beebe
Duration: 19:20
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