Retail
J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney announced the appointment of Marc Rosen as CEO, effective Nov. 1.
Stanley Shashoua, Simon Property Group’s chief investment officer, has been appointed as executive chairman of the board of directors after serving as interim CEO of J.C. Penney since January.
Rosen brings more than 25 years of retail and e-commerce experience to the role, most recently serving as executive vice president and president of Levi Strauss Americas at Levi Strauss & Co., leading commercial operations for Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. and Denizen brands.
Prior to Levi Strauss & Co., Rosen spent 14 years at Walmart Inc. in a variety of senior leadership functions, ultimately serving as senior vice president of global e-commerce.
BJ’s Wholesale Club
BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, an operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States, announced that Rachael Vegas will join the company as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.
Vegas will be responsible for the strategic leadership of the company’s merchandising and assortment planning and allocation functions, and will report to Paul Cichocki, executive vice president and chief commercial officer.
Most recently, Vegas was senior vice president of e-commerce merchandising at H-E-B, where she was responsible for its e-commerce business, as well as its in-store financial services and payments division and retail media initiative.
The company also announced additional executive appointments to further strengthen its leadership team and accelerate its transformation. Tim Morningstar will assume the role of executive vice president and chief membership officer. Morningstar joined BJ’s in 2020 as senior vice president for membership acquisition and loyalty and now leads the company’s membership and marketing functions. He also reports to Cichocki. Previously, he was a partner at the Boston office of Bain & Company.
Monica Schwartz will assume the role of executive vice president and chief digital officer. Schwartz joined BJ’s in 2020 as senior vice president and chief digital officer and is responsible for the strategic leadership of the company’s digital business. She reports directly to BJ’s president and CEO Bob Eddy.
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Headquartered in Westborough, Mass., BJ’s Wholesale Club operates 222 clubs and 151 BJ’s Gas locations in 17 states.
The Footwear Distributors & Retailers of America (FDRA) announced the hiring of Sandi Mines to serve in the newly created role of vice president of corporate engagement starting on Dec. 1.
In this new position, Mines will be working directly with FDRA members and the broader footwear industry to develop key initiatives and events singularly focused on driving continued value for shoe companies and their employees. She will also be a leading force in ensuring the continued vibrancy of New York market weeks as organized by the Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY).
Mines currently serves as vice president and publisher of Footwear News, a sister brand to Sourcing Journal.
Sleep Number
Sleep Number Corporation announced the appointment to its board of directors of Phillip Eyler, president and CEO of Gentherm, a developer of innovative thermal management technologies, and Angel L. Mendez, executive chairman of LevaData, Inc., an artificial intelligence company.
Eyler and Mendez’s appointments are effective Jan. 2. Sleep Number has 625 stores.
Wish
ContextLogic Inc., which does business as Wish, a mobile e-commerce platform, appointed Vivian Liu as chief financial officer (CFO), effective Nov. 10.
In this role, Liu will oversee Wish’s global financial operations, including financial planning and analysis, controllership, tax, treasury, audit, reporting and investor relations. She will also lead Wish’s merchant acquisition team as Wish continues to diversify and strengthen its merchant base.
Liu currently serves as CFO and senior vice president of Shutterfly Inc., a platform for photography-based personalized products. Liu will report directly to CEO Piotr Szulczewski.
Citi Trends
Citi Trends Inc., a specialty value retailer of apparel, accessories and home trends, announced the appointment of two new independent directors.
Christina Francis, president of Magic Johnson Enterprises, and Cara Sabin, CEO of Sundial Brands, will join the company’s board. With these appointments, three out of seven independent directors of the company will be African American females.
Citi Trends operates 596 stores located in 33 states.
Brands
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss & Co. announced a change of leadership in its commercial organization.
Sanjeev Mohanty, senior vice president and managing director of South Asia-Middle East and Africa for Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.), will become senior vice president and managing director for U.S. and Canada, the company’s largest and most complex commercial operations cluster, spanning all brands and channels.
Mohanty is a veteran retailer and apparel executive who has held roles with a number of global brands, including e-commerce conglomerate Global Fashion Group, fashion and lifestyle retailing company the Jay Gee Group, and the Benetton Group.
Columbia Sportswear
Columbia Sportswear Company promoted Andrew Burns to vice president for strategic planning and investor relations.
Burns has been at Columbia Sportswear for more than three years, leading the investor relations program. In his new role, he will take on leading strategic planning and initiative management, in addition to his responsibilities for investor relations.
Columbia Sportswear’s brands–the Columbia brand, Mountain Hard Wear, Sorel and prAna–are sold in approximately 90 countries.
VF Corp.
VF Corp. appointed Allegra Perry to the position of vice president of investor relations, effective January. She will report to VF chief financial officer Matt Puckett.
Perry will be responsible for leading all aspects of VF’s investor relations program. She will work closely with VF’s executive leadership team and leaders across the company’s 12 brands to establish strategic priorities and goals and design a financial communications program that effectively articulates the company’s financial story and drives engagement with key stakeholders internally and in the capital markets community.
Perry most recently held the position of director of investor relations and corporate affairs for The Watches of Switzerland Group, joining the company six months after its IPO to establish a new investor relations platform.
VF Corp. family of outdoor, active and workwear brands include Vans, The North Face, Timberland and Dickies.
Textiles
Unifi
Unifi Inc., a manufacturer of recycled and synthetic yarns, announced the election of Rhonda Ramlo to its board of Directors.
Ramlo is currently vice president and general manager of strategy, acquisitions and new business development at The Clorox Company, a position she has held since 2013. Before joining the Clorox Company, she spent over 15 years in various executive leadership positions with Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Holdings.
Through Repreve, one of Unifi’s proprietary technologies and a global leader in branded recycled performance fibers, Unifi has transformed more than 25 billion plastic bottles into recycled fiber for new apparel, footwear, home goods and other consumer products. Unifi continually innovates technologies to meet consumer needs in moisture management, thermal regulation, antimicrobial protection, UV protection, stretch, water resistance and enhanced softness.
Trade
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
President Biden nominated Kathi Vidal for under secretary for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at the Department of Commerce.
Vidal is currently managing partner of Winston & Strawn’s Silicon Valley Office. Nationally recognized for leading high-profile patent disputes, her experience covers a myriad of complex technologies from semiconductors and software to medical devices and consumer products.
She represents plaintiffs and defendants in U.S. district courts, the International Trade Commission and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Vidal is registered to practice before the PTO and prosecuted many patent applications early in her career. She also advises on IP policies for standard-setting organizations, trademark and copyright matters, and on strategies for worldwide patent disputes including advising on national security, policy and related issues.
Logistics
Quincus
Quincus, an SaaS platform that helps solve logistics problems for logistics providers, e-commerce, airlines, freight and household brands worldwide, appointed David Jen to the company’s board of directors.
Jen currently leads the investment and finance team at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory. As a board director, he will provide strategic investment and advisory to Quincus’ leadership team as the company expands globally.
Quincus recently closed its Series B funding round led by UP.Partners, with participation from existing investor GGV Capital. This round will help expand its global footprint in Asia-Pacific, North America, the Middle East, and selected markets in Latin America and Europe.
Quincus is headquartered in Singapore with a global presence, including offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and the U.K.
Technology
Nogin
Veteran marketing and strategy executive Jay J. Ku joined Commerce-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform Nogin as executive vice president and chief commerce officer.
In his new role, Ku will oversee the Tustin, Calif.-based company’s brand management and creative teams. These include e-commerce specialists, performance marketers, planners, buyers, retention marketers, writers and designers focused on driving sales across 30-plus brands such as Hurley, Kenneth Cole, Bebe, Frye, Kendall + Kyle, Justice and Honeywell. He reports to Nogin president Geoffrey Van Haeren.
Most recently, Ku spent five years as senior vice president of marketing and strategy at Society6//Leaf Group. In that capacity, he directed all brand and performance marketing efforts for the company’s Society 6 artist-driven home décor brand.
Nogin delivers CaaS to brands in the fashion, CPG, beauty, health and wellness industries. The company’s e-commerce technology platform includes research and development, sales optimization and machine learning, along with artificial intelligence-driven marketing and fulfillment.