Brands
Patagonia
Patagonia selected Ryan Gellert as the new CEO of Patagonia Works, the holding company for Patagonia Inc., Patagonia Provisions, Patagonia Media, Lost Arrow Solutions. Fletcher Chouinard Designs Inc., Tin Shed Ventures and Worn Wear Inc.
Since 2014, Gellert has overseen Patagonia’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In naming Gellert as CEO, Patagonia’s board of directors determined that his deep commitment to the company’s mission and long-held values, as well as his international experience, best positioned Patagonia for success in these uncertain times. In addition, his attentiveness and dedication to seeing others excel, and his passion for Patagonia’s product and activism, made him the right choice for the organization’s next chapter.
Patagonia’s board of directors also made two changes within the leadership team by elevating Jenna Johnson and Lisa Williams to larger roles. Johnson, who previously led Patagonia’s technical outdoor business, will serve as head of Patagonia Inc., where she will oversee Patagonia’s apparel and equipment division as the company works to align its business more strongly with its mission and sport communities.
Williams, who joined Patagonia’s product team in 2001, will assume a new executive role as head of innovation, design and merchandising. In this role, she will accelerate Patagonia’s mission by leading breakthrough ideas in materials, carbon-capturing business models and design. This elite creative team also includes Tin Shed Ventures and Patagonia’s repair, share and recycle business, Worn Wear. Williams will continue to report to the CEO in this critical new role.
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Puma
Puma appointed Johan Kuhlo, currently head of corporate strategy and investor relations, as general manager of EEMEA (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) distribution.
Kuhlo will be based in Puma’s regional hub in Salzburg, Austria, and report directly to Arne Freundt, general manager of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
Before joining Puma in 2015, Huhlo was a project leader at the Boston Consulting Group after holding several positions in marketing and sales at L’Oréal. At Puma, he has played an integral part in defining more effective organizational setups, managing the spinoff from Kering in 2018 and, most recently, coordinating the company’s crisis management in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Taking over for Kuhlo as head of corporate strategy is Moritz Schneidmüller, team head of global go-to-market strategy. Schneidmüller started his career with Puma in the corporate strategy department, where he worked from 2011 until 2014. Afterward, he held various project management and strategy-related roles across Cobra Puma Golf, global e-commerce, corporate strategy and global go-to-market. He will report directly to Puma CEO Bjørn Gulden.
G-III Apparel Group
G-III Apparel Group announced the election of Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of The RLJ Companies and former chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET), to the company’s board of directors.
With the addition of Johnson, G-III’s board will now consist of 12 members, with Johnson being the eighth independent director.
G-III designs, sources and markets apparel and accessories under owned, licensed and private label brands. G-III’s owned brands include DKNY, Donna Karan, Vilebrequin, G. H. Bass, Eliza J, Jessica Howard, Andrew Marc and Marc New York. G-III has fashion licenses under the Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Kenneth Cole, Cole Haan, Guess, Vince Camuto, Levi’s and Dockers brands.
Unspun
Unspun, a Hong Kong- and San Francisco-based robotics and apparel startup, announced that former Levi’s head of global design Jonathan Cheung is joining its advisory board.
Along with advising Unspun, in his new role Cheung is helping the company connect with potential brand partners and is collaborating on products that will launch in 2021. While collaborating with brands like H&M Group’s Weekday to bring custom fit and on-demand fashion to the masses, the company is launching its own brand of customized jeans that are fitted by using an iPhone body scan.
Retail
Dollar General
Dollar General Corp. named Emily Taylor as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.
Taylor, who formerly served as senior vice president of channel innovation, brings more than two decades of leadership excellence and expertise to the role. Dollar General also announced the departure of Jason Reiser from the company.
The company also announced additional organizational changes. Tracey Herrmann will now serve as senior vice president of channel innovation, having previously served as senior vice president of store operations. Kal Patel, formerly a vice president and division manager, will be promoted to senior vice president of store operations.
Dollar General operated 16,720 stores in 46 states as of July 31.
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. appointed Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of WeWork, and Desiree Ralls-Morrison, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Boston Scientific Corporation, to its board of directors.
Dick’s also announced that Vincent C. Byrd and Allen R. Weiss have stepped down from its board, after nearly 17 combined years of service.
Mathrani has been the WeWork CEO and a member of its board since February. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Brookfield Properties Retail Group.
Mathrani also serves on the executive board and the board of trustees for the International Council of Shopping Centers, the executive board of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and the board of Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.
In her current role, Ralls-Morrison provides legal leadership across Boston Scientific’s global business and oversees the company’s global compliance function. She is currently a member of the board of The Partnership Inc., and sits on the executive committee of The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund of Massachusetts.
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue said Lori Spicer Robertson joined the company in the new position of vice president of diversity and inclusion.
Saks said Robertson will lead the diversity and inclusion team and help advance its efforts in fostering a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion for employees, customers and partners. She reports to Sarah Garber, Saks’ chief people officer.
Most recently, Robertson was chief communications and engagement officer at United Way of the Mid-South.
Logistics
UPS
UPS appointed Nicole Clifton as president of social impact and The UPS Foundation, effective Nov. 1, and the retirement of Eduardo Martinez.
Clifton will lead UPS’s global philanthropy, social impact and community engagement efforts as part of UPS’s new corporate affairs, communications and sustainability team. She previously served as vice president of public affairs and led UPS’s workforce policy, legislative advocacy and external affairs engagement with members of Congress and with states’ attorneys general.
She also leads the UPS Equity, Justice and Action Task Force, a cross-functional leadership team working to dismantle systemic racism where UPS is best positioned to drive change. Clifton serves on the Department of Transportation Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking and the Advisory Board for the CARE Global Network Leaders.
Martinez most recently served as UPS’s chief diversity and inclusion officer and president of The UPS Foundation.
Technology
Trinity Technology Group
Trinity Technology Group (TTG), a specialist in ePTFE technology for the industrial, apparel, automotive and medical markets, hired Bruce Anneaux as the company’s chief technology officer.
Anneaux is charged with ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) technology and application development to drive new growth while serving core customers’ requirements. He will also focus on expanding TTG’s pulse plasma oleo treatment technology and working with outside partners and advisers to bring new products to market.
Prior to joining TTG, Anneaux worked for Poly-Med, a bioresorbable polymer startup, where he served as the manager of medical devices and engineering. He also worked for more than ten years as the corporate director of R&D for Zeus Industrial Products, a polymer technology company.