Marc Lore's Wonder Hires Executives From Walmart And Wayfair As It Aims To Become The 'super App For Mealtime'

Wonder plans to open more than 50 new food halls in 2025.

Wonder

• Food-tech startup Wonder has made two new executive hires, the company told Business Insider.
• Courtney Lawrie will focus on growing Wonder's food hall base and delivery operations.
• Whitney Pegden will lead Blue Apron, the meal kit brand that Wonder acquired in 2023.

Food-tech startup Wonder has hired two new executives as it opens more food halls, builds its delivery business, and adds new products.

The company told Business Insider that Courtney Lawrie will serve as Wonder's senior vice president and general manager in charge of Wonder's restaurants and delivery experience.

Whitney Pegden is the company's new senior vice president and general manager of Blue Apron, the meal kit brand that Wonder acquired in 2023.

Marc Lore, the former CEO of Walmart's e-commerce business, has been CEO of Wonder since 2021. Its goal is to "build the super app for mealtime," Daniel Shlossman, Wonder's chief growth and marketing officer, told BI. Wonder is one of several companies trying to build a super app, or a one-stop shop for a variety of related services and products.

"Both Courtney and Whitney have scaled businesses into nationally beloved brands and will make an immediate impact on Wonder and Blue Apron," he added.

Wonder, which got its start preparing meals in vans parked outside of customers' homes in New Jersey neighborhoods, has since quit that business to focus on food halls and delivery. Besides Blue Apron, it also announced plans to acquire delivery service Grubhub for $650 million last year. The deal closed in January.

Now, Wonder has to combine everything it has built itself as well as what it has acquired under a single "Wonder Umbrella," Lawrie said.

"It's really bringing these things all together and tackling a real customer problem," she said.

Lawrie comes to Wonder from Wayfair, where she worked on the houseware retailer's physical store presence.

Stores will also be a big part of Lawrie's job at Wonder, she told BI. Wonder already runs 38 food halls in the Northeast, which allow walk-in customers to order dishes designed by chefs including Bobby Flay, Marcus Samuelsson, and José Andrés. The food halls also offer delivery.

In 2025, Wonder plans to open more than 50 additional stores. Getting customers in the door — or ordering online — will be key, especially with many people concerned about how much they're spending when they dine out, Lawrie said.

Wonder

Before joining Wonder, Pegden worked at Walmart on the retailer's generative AI shopping assistant, augmented reality, and InHome delivery.

Wonder

Blue Apron's meal kit business is a different model from Wonder's food halls, she said. But part of Wonder's ambition of being a super app is to offer diners different choices, she added.

"Customers don't necessarily want to eat a meal kit every single night of the week or get delivery every single night of the week," she said.
"They want to mix things up."

Pegden said that there are opportunities to add products to Blue Apron that are "simpler and quicker to get dinner on the table."

Wonder's goal is to get customers to turn to the app "not just for pickup and delivery, but also for meal kits, also for groceries, also for dining out at a restaurant," Pegden told BI.

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