Retail
Designer Brands
Designer Brands Inc. (DBI), owner of DSW and other footwear names, announced two new executive appointments.
In addition to her ongoing role as vice chairman, Debbie Ferrée was named president of Camuto Group, a role she has held on an interim basis since August. In addition, William Jordan was named president of Designer Brands. Jordan was named Designer Brands’ chief growth officer in February 2020 and will continue to lead that work in his new role.
As president of Camuto Group, Ferrée will accelerate her executive duties of advancing Camuto’s integration into the DBI organization and growing brands. Integration work includes continued growth of brands exclusive to DSW, such as JLO Jennifer Lopez, Kelly & Katie and Crown Vintage, as well as other owned brands such as Vince Camuto.
As president of Designer Brands, Jordan will continue to oversee the enterprise’s shared services functions, including human resources and information technology. As part of Camuto Group’s continued integration, the sourcing and supply chain business functions will move under Jordan in Designer Brands’ shared services organization.
Designer Brands operates a portfolio of retail concepts in nearly 700 locations under the DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, The Shoe Company and Shoe Warehouse banners. The company designs and produces footwear and accessories through Camuto Group, a leading manufacturer selling in more than 5,400 stores worldwide. Camuto Group owns licensing rights for the Jessica Simpson footwear business and footwear and handbag licenses for Lucky Brand. In partnership with a joint venture with Authentic Brands Group, DBI also owns a stake in Vince Camuto and Louise et Cie.
Chico’s
Chico’s FAS Inc. appointed Nancy Johnson as senior vice president and general merchandise manager of merchandising and design for the Chico’s brand and Dimple Rao as vice president of product management.
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In this role, Johnson will be responsible for the product, design and overall strategy for Chico’s, and she will report directly to Molly Langenstein, president and CEO of Chico’s FAS. Rao will oversee architecting and designing end-to-end customer experience and she will report to Jay Topper, chief digital officer of Chico’s FAS.
Johnson joins Chico’s from Macy’s Inc., where she served as executive vice president of private brands leading all of women’s.
Rao joins Chico’s from Spins, where she held the role of senior vice president.
Chico’s FAS is a Florida-based fashion company consisting of three brands–Chico’s, White House Black Market and Soma. As of May 1, the company operated 1,293 stores in the U.S. and sold merchandise through 66 international franchise locations in Mexico and two domestic franchise airport locations.
Brands
Wolverine Worldwide
Wolverine Worldwide, which a large portfolio of footwear and lifestyle brands, announced that Brendan Hoffman, president and a member of the company’s board of directors, will also become CEO at the end of the year.
Hoffman will succeed Blake Krueger, who began his career with the company in 1993 and has been CEO since 2007 and chairman since 2009. As part of the transition, Krueger will assume the newly created role of executive chairman of Wolverine Worldwide.
Hoffman joined Wolverine Worldwide as president in September 2020 with oversight of the company’s brands and direct-to-consumer business, reporting directly to Krueger. Before joining Wolverine Worldwide, Hoffman was CEO of Vince Holding Corp., a publicly traded, global contemporary fashion brand.
Under Krueger’s leadership as CEO, Wolverine Worldwide has transformed from a traditional footwear wholesaler into a digital-focused growth company. He led the company’s acquisitions of the Merrell, Saucony, Sperry, Stride Rite, Keds and Chaco brands. During his tenure, the company expanded its international distribution to more than 170 countries and territories, increased revenue to well over $2 billion and market capitalization by 30-fold.
As executive chairman, he will continue to lead Wolverine Worldwide’s board and will partner with Hoffman on key international and strategic initiatives.
The company’s portfolio also includes Hush Puppies, Wolverine, Bates and Hytest. Wolverine Worldwide is also the global footwear licensee of Cat and Harley-Davidson.
Levi Strauss
Fatima Angeles was named executive director of the Levi Strauss Foundation.
Angeles joins Levi Strauss from the California Wellness Foundation, where she has spent more than 20 years leading strategy and a team of grantmakers in supporting organizations working to increase access to health care, quality education, good jobs, and clean and safe neighborhoods across the state.
Most recently, she served as vice president of programs, providing executive leadership and strategic vision for the foundation’s programs in grantmaking and program-related investments.
In recent years, Angeles also developed grantmaking programs focused on providing COVID-19 relief and reducing gun violence, which have also been two areas in which the Levi Strauss Foundation has recently invested.
Trade
Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) selected AnnMarie R. Highsmith as executive assistant commissioner and John P. Leonard as deputy executive assistant commissioner of the Office of Trade.
As stewards of CBP’s trade mission, Highsmith and Leonard will oversee CBP’s efforts to facilitate trade and to safeguard America’s national and economic security by creating a level playing field for U.S. businesses, reducing the costs of trade, and protecting American consumers from illicit and unsafe goods.
Highsmith had served as CBP’s deputy chief counsel since 2013. Since 2017, Leonard has led CBP’s strategic efforts on intellectual property rights, antidumping and countervailing duties, import safety and textiles. He also led the Office of Trade as acting executive assistant commissioner from March to June.
The CBP Office of Trade is the architect of the world’s most robust customs system. In fiscal 2020, CBP processed more than $2.4 trillion of imports and generated $78.8 billion of government revenue.
Labor
NLRB
President Biden nominated David Prouty to be a member of the National Labor Relations Board.
David Prouty is general counsel of Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, the largest labor union for property service workers in the country with more than 175,000 members. He served as general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 2013 to 2017 and as chief labor counsel of the MLBPA from 2008 to 2013.
Prior to June 2008, Prouty was general counsel of UNITE HERE, the union formed by the 2004 merger of UNITE (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees) with HERE (the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union).
Logistics
GoFor
GoFor, a North American marketplace for last mile, on-demand and same-day delivery, and sustainable logistics, has appointed Dillon McDonald as chief revenue officer and George Burnett III as chief technology officer.
Most recently, McDonald was vice president of incubation at National Grid Ventures, one of the world’s largest utilities focused on decarbonization and transforming the energy system. Burnett was most recently founder and CEO of BL3NDlabs, a strategy, design and technology development firm that builds digital products, platforms and brands.
GoFor delivers any package, small to big and bulky, locally within three hours. The Ottawa, Canada-based company helps North American businesses of all sizes get their products into the hands of customers faster and works with some of the biggest names in the retail, construction and supply-chain industries.