Retail
Ascena Retail Group appointed two presidents in its Premium Fashion segment. Andrew Clarke was named president of the Loft brand. Since 2017, Clarke held the role of executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Ascena’s Justice brand.
Julie Rosen was appointed president of the Ann Taylor and Lou & Grey brands. Since 2016, Rosen was senior vice president and general merchandise manager at Ascena’s Ann Taylor brand. In early 2018, her role was expanded to include the Lou & Grey brand.
Ascena Retail Group also operates Ann Taylor in its Premium Fashion segment, Maurices and Dress Barnin its Value Fashion segment, Lane Bryant, Catherines and Cacique in its Plus Fashion segment and Justice in its Kids Fashion segment.
Nordstrom Inc.
Nordstrom announced Edmond Mesrobian has joined the company as chief technology officer (CTO). In this role, Mesrobian will help Nordstrom continue to bolster its strategy of leveraging digital and technology capabilities while expanding customer reach and engagement.
Mesrobian joins Nordstrom from multinational grocery retailer, Tesco, where he focused on strengthening the company’s technological capabilities and creating innovative solutions for its customers. In the CTO role, Mesrobian supported a global team while leading long-term vision, technology strategy, standards and architecture.
As CTO of Nordstrom, Mesrobian will support all aspects of technology across the company. He will focus on advancing Nordstrom’s suite of technology capabilities to best meet the evolving needs of customers.
Stage Stores
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Stage Stores Inc. announced that Oded Shein, executive vice president, chief financial officer (CFO) and treasurer, resigned his position to pursue another opportunity.
The retailer has appointed Jason Curtis as interim CFO and treasurer. Curtis has been with Stage Stores since 2011, most recently serving as senior vice president of finance and credit. Prior to joining Stage Stores in 2011, Curtis served in various financial roles at Belk Inc. and The May Department Stores.
Brands
Columbia Sportswear
Columbia Sportswear named Chris Adamek, who has been consulting with the company since January, as the vice president and chief of staff for the Columbia brand.
In this new role, Adamek will report to Joe Boyle, executive vice president and Columbia Brand president, and will work closely with other senior leaders throughout the business to help define and execute the top strategic initiatives for the Columbia brand.
Most recently, Adamek served as vice president for the Pacific region at the global consulting agency North Highland, where he led the retail and consumer goods practice and worked with a number of clients including Starbucks, TaylorMade Golf, Nike, T-Mobile and DreamWorks Animation.
Superior Group of Companies
Superior Group of Companies, a manufacturer of uniforms, career apparel and accessories, named Michael J. Attinella as the company’s new chief financial officer and treasurer.
Attinella will oversee Superior Group’s global business financial activities. He succeeds Andrew D. Demott Jr. in the CFO position as Demott shifts his responsibilities to fully focus on his role as chief operating officer.
Attinella joins Superior Group from electronic retailer HSNi, where he served as senior vice president and chief accounting officer since 2008, and executive vice president and CFO since 2013.
Rag & Bone
Rag & Bone named Stefanie Strack as its CEO. Strack’s appointment is effective Sept. 10, at which time she will also be appointed to the company’s board of directors. Marcus Wainwright, the current CEO, will assume a new title as founder and chief brand officer.
Strack will focus on digital transformation and deepening the consumer connection globally across wholesale and direct-to-consumer. Strack has spent the last 14 years at Nike Inc. in a variety of operational and business roles. Most recently, she held the position of vice president and general manager of Nike Express Lane, leading a global effort to meet evolving consumer needs with improved speed to market.
Rag & bone offers a full range of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, denim, accessories and footwear collections, operating 42 stores worldwide. Stack’s arrival comes as Rag & Bone prepares to accelerate its direct-to-consumer efforts.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) said Jin Amy Yang will join the company as managing director of Greater China, effective Aug. 20. In this role, Yang will be responsible for leading the company’s commercial operations, spanning all brands and channels across Greater China. She also will be accountable for accelerating profitable growth in Greater China.
Yang will report to David Love, executive vice president of the company and president of Levi Strauss Asia, Middle East and Africa. Yang replaces Nic Versloot, who is moving to a new role within the organization.
She joins LS&Co. from the Coca-Cola Co., where she led global business development and was responsible for the global vision, strategies and annual business plans with an emphasis on accelerating new product portfolio growth in China. Yang was also general manager of Coca-Cola’s juice and dairy business in China. Prior to that, Yang was vice president of marketing for L’Oreal Paris USA.
Delta Apparel
Delta Apparel Inc., a provider of basic and branded apparel, headwear and related accessories, appointed Anita D. Britt to its board of directors.
Britt brings 24 years of financial and related operational experience in the apparel and consumer products industries. She served as chief financial officer for Perry Ellis International from 2009 until her retirement in 2017, and also served as executive vice president and CFO for Urban Brands Inc. from 2006 to 2009.
Technology
Appriss Retail
Appriss Retail announced that Christopher Hoffman has joined the company’s client services department as senior program manager. Hoffman, formerly of The Bon-Ton department stores, will help Appriss Retail’s clients improve productivity and results through artificial intelligence (AI) and loss prevention data analytics solutions.
Hoffman will use his extensive knowledge of employee fraud modeling, exception reporting, LP productivity and cost containment to the benefit of retailers in North America and abroad. Appriss Retail provides artificial intelligence-based solutions to help retailers protect margin, unlock sales and cut shrink.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce, an e-commerce platform, announced that Mark Adams has joined the company as vice president and general manager for Europe. Adams will lead the company’s international expansion throughout Europe, including day-to-day management of its newly opened office in London.
Adams joins BigCommerce from eComp Consulting, the IT and e-commerce consulting agency he co-founded that has helped notable companies like Aldi, Long Tall Sally, Cotswold Company and Andertons Music Co. select, integrate and launch their e-commerce platforms.
The company also announced the appointment of Deepak Anand as director of European business development. Anand previously served as U.K. general manager for e-commerce platform Shopware. Combining enterprise functionality, an open architecture and app ecosystems, BigCommerce enables businesses to grow online sales with lower cost, time and complexity than on-premise software.
Rakuten Marketing
Rakuten Marketing appointed Stuart Simms as CEO. Simms will be focused on the company’s commitment to increase Rakuten Marketing’s investments in areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning that help predict consumers’ needs, interests and preferences.
Simms, who joined the Rakuten Marketing team in 2017 as president, succeeds Tiny Zito, who will assume a new role in the Rakuten business. Rakuten Marketing is a division of Rakuten Inc., an Internet service company based in Tokyo.