Brands
Sequential Brands
Sequential Brands Group Inc. announced that brand executive David Conn has been appointed director and CEO of the company.
Conn brings with him more than 25 years of experience and knowledge in brand management and marketing. Most recently, he served as CEO of ThreeSixty Brands, where he played a significant role in acquiring and relaunching the iconic FAO Schwarz and Sharper Image brands. Prior to that, he served as CEO and board member of True Religion.
Sequential Brands Group owns, promotes, markets and licenses a portfolio of consumer brands in the active and lifestyle categories.
Lululemon
Lululemon Athletica Inc. appointed Nikki Neuburger as chief brand officer, effective Jan. 20.
In this role, Neuburger will be responsible for elevating the Lululemon brand and leading the marketing, creative, communications and sustainability functions to drive the company’s global brand and storytelling initiatives. She joins the company’s senior leadership team and will report to CEO Calvin McDonald.
Neuburger joins lululemon from Uber, where she served as global head of marketing for the rideshare service’s Uber Eats food delivery platform for the past two years and led the introduction and expansion of the brand across five regions in 36 countries. Previously, she spent 14 years at Nike, most recently serving as the company’s global vice president of Nike Running.
Berghaus
Berghaus, the U.K.-based outdoor firm owned by Pentland Brands, appointed Paul Anderton as head of category for product and innovation.
Anderton was most recently senior merchandise manager at Columbia Sportswear. Previously, he was head of product, merchandising and planning for EMEA at Patagonia.
Anderson will work closely with head of design James Hodgson, leading the product and innovation team at the Pentland Brands headquarters in Sunderland.
Earlier this year, Pentland Brands announced a major investment to double the size of the Berghaus product team and support the brand’s long-term business strategy. In addition to expanding its outdoor lifestyle offer, Berghaus has put renewed focus on creating ground-breaking products for the specialist outdoor sector through its Extrem range. The brand has also introduced a dedicated “Sprint Team” to bring certain lines to the market quicker than through the standard process.
VF Corp.
VF Corp. appointed Gloria Schoch to the position of director of the VF Foundation & Global Impact.
Schoch will oversee and implement the VF Foundation’s strategic vision to support non-profit organizations that drive movements of sustainable and active lifestyles, including movements that enable conservation and stewardship, education and workforce development, and the advancement of human and organizational endeavors in the context of inclusion, equity and diversity. She will also work across the organization to support alignment around how VF defines and measures global impact.
Prior to joining VF, Schoch was director of community affairs for Molson Coors Brewing Company. There, she led corporate social responsibility programs, external communications and cause marketing campaigns to drive social and environmental initiatives in the areas of civic leadership, economic empowerment and water stewardship.
PVH Corp.
PVH Corp. announced that Tom Chu will become regional president of PVH Asia Pacific, effective Feb. 1.
Chu previously served as president of PVH Japan. In his new role, he will report to Stefan Larsson, president of PVH Corp. Chu has been with PVH for more than six years. Together with his team he returned Tommy Hilfiger to its premium brand status and the business to profitability in Japan, and re-launched Calvin Klein Jeans product to the market.
Frank Cancelloni, formerly regional president of PVH Asia Pacific, will be leaving PVH at the end of March to pursue new opportunities.
Vince
Vince Holding Corp. appointed Steven Cateron to the position of senior creative director for Rebecca Taylor and Parker, effective Jan. 13.
In this position, Cateron will lead all aspects of apparel design and creative services for the two brands. He joined the company from Club Monaco, where he served as creative director and senior vice president of design.
Vince Holding Corp. also operates the Vince brand. Rebecca Taylor is a high-end women’s contemporary lifestyle brand available at Rebecca Taylor boutiques and at rebeccataylor.com, as well as high-end department and specialty stores worldwide as well is its subscription service. Parker is a contemporary women’s fashion brand available at parkerny.com and high-end department and specialty stores worldwide. Vince Holding is headquartered in New York.
Trade
RILA
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced that Blake Harden joined the association as vice president of international trade.
Harden joins RILA after serving three years at the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means’ Subcommittee on Trade, where she worked as trade counsel to ranking member Kevin Brady (R-Tex.). Prior to her work at Ways and Means, she was a senior attorney at the Office of Chief Counsel, Trade and Finance Section of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
At RILA, Harden will lead the association’s international trade public policy efforts, which are a top priority for leading retailers. Harden will drive RILA’s strategic trade policy agenda and coalition activities aimed to combat the negative impact tariffs have had on the industry and will serve as the leading expert for several of RILA’s communities engaged on trade issues.
Logistics
Damco
Damco CEO Saskia Groen-in’t-Woud appointed Naomi Landman as head of Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Network Strategy to drive growth in 2020 for the Netherlands-based freight forwarder.
Groen-in’t-Woud took the helm at Damco a year ago to run the freight forwarder as an independent and separate business from parent company A.P. Moller-Maersk.
Landman brings two decades of forwarding and air freight expertise in senior management roles, most recently as managing director at GEFCO Netherlands.
XPO Logistics
XPO Logistics Inc., a global provider of transportation and logistics solutions, announced the appointments of Kurt Rogers as chief legal officer and corporate secretary, and Karlis Kirsis as senior vice president and European chief legal officer. Both positions are effective Feb. 3.
Rogers joins XPO from Stericycle Inc., where he served as executive vice president and general counsel from 2017 to 2020. Kirsis, who joined XPO in 2016, has led the company’s legal matters as corporate counsel since 2017.
Federal Maritime Commission
Sandra Kusumoto retired as director of the Federal Maritime Commission’s (FMC) Bureau of Certification and Licensing on Dec. 31 after 36 years of service. In addition, Tyler J. Wood departed his post as general counsel on Jan. 3 to take up a new position with the Department of Justice.
Following consultation and consent of his fellow commissioners, FMC chairman Michael Khouri appointed Clifford Johnson to serve as acting director of the Bureau of Certification and Licensing, and William Shakely to serve as acting general counsel.
Textiles
MMI Textiles
MMI Textiles Inc. named Jeff Papalia as vice president, effective Jan. 13.
Papalia was selected for this new position to help MMI Textiles excel operationally as the company continues its significant growth. Papalia will report directly to president Amy Bircher. The company’s directors–Nick Rivera, director of operations; Shawn McCollum, director of sales, and Debbie Grant, director of marketing and business services–will report to Papalia.
Papalia most recently served with National Industries for the Blind (NIB). He joined NIB in 2006 as senior textile engineer and was promoted in 2017 to program manager for textiles. Previously, Papalia served as director of quality and sourcing for the Jones New York/Jones Apparel Group Western Hemisphere locations.
MMI Textiles is a diversified supplier of industrial and custom fabrics and textile components for the outdoor apparel, medical and military markets.
Retail
Chico’s
Chico’s FAS, Inc. announced that executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) Todd E. Vogensen resigned to accept a CFO position with another company.
Jennifer Ellis, senior vice president of finance, was appointed interim CFO, effective Feb. 3. Ellis has served in her current role since July 2018 and prior to that served in various finance roles at the company.
Ross Stores
Ross Stores Inc. announced that Bernie Brautigan, president of merchandising of Ross Dress for Less since 2016, is leaving the company. Senior merchant executives under his areas of responsibility will now report to CEO Barbara Rentler.
Technology
GS1
GS1 U.S. appointed Kraig Adams as vice president, blockchain. In this newly created role, Adams will strengthen the organization’s strategic partnerships with leaders exploring distributed ledger technology, including blockchain, across multiple industries, including apparel, foodservice, retail grocery, general merchandise and healthcare.
He and his team will focus on driving the use of GS1 Standards for systems interoperability and improved data quality, which are two foundational aspects of a successful blockchain implementation.
Adams joins the GS1 US team one year after the launch of the GS1 US Blockchain Discussion Group, a cross-industry collaboration focused on identifying challenges with blockchain implementation and investigating opportunities to leverage GS1 Standards with blockchain.
GS1 U.S., a member of GS1 global, is a not-for-profit information standards organization that facilitates industry collaboration to help improve supply chain visibility and efficiency through the use of GS1 Standards.
Electronics For Imaging
Electronics For Imaging (EFI) named Dr. Douglas Edwards as its chief technology officer (CTO).
Edwards replaces Ghilad Dziesietnik, who recently retired after nearly 25 years with EFI. Edwards was CEO of Cambridge, England-based Xaar, a leading developer of inkjet print head technologies for industrial printing, and chairman of Xaar 3D Ltd., the company’s 3D printing joint venture with Stratasys Ltd.
EFI, a global technology company based in Silicon Valley, is involved in the worldwide transformation from analog to digital imaging in the manufacturing of textiles, signage, packaging, ceramic tiles and personalized documents.
Klarna
Klarna appointed Francine Ereira to the role of general manager for Australia and New Zealand.
Starting Feb. 3, she will be responsible for Klarna’s launch and growth in Australia, and lead the company’s daily operations and expansion across the region.
For the past decade, Ereira has been a seasoned leader in the digital retail finance and payments industry, most recently as a senior executive at Zip Co. Her hiring comes on the back of Klarna’s 2019 announcement that it will enter into an exclusive partnership with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia’s largest retail and commercial bank, to launch Klarna in Australia and New Zealand.
Klarna offers a wide range of products within payments, social shopping and personal finances to make it easier for people to shop on and offline, including pay now and pay later services, in-store payment solutions and a new direct-to-consumer shopping app.
Kepler Analytics
Kepler Analytics, a provider of foot traffic monitoring and sales optimization solutions for retailers, appointed Bill Martin to the company’s U.S. advisory board.
Martin helped establish the retail traffic counting and analytics industry as the co-founder of ShopperTrak in 1995. He oversaw the evolution and growth of that company until it was acquired by Tyco International in 2016.
Following his time with ShopperTrak, Martin served as chairman of the board of Shelfbucks, which utilized proprietary technology to track and optimize in-store merchandising campaigns. He also served for seven years as CEO of Drummers Limited Sales, a business development firm that helped startup companies increase sales and profitability.
