Skip to main content

Shuffle Board: New SVPs at Walmart and J.C. Penney, Yoox Net-A-Porter Boosts Exec Team

Retail

Walmart

Walmart appointed Nuala O’Connor to a new senior vice president and chief counsel of digital citizenship role, reporting directly to Rachel Brand, executive vice president of global governance, chief legal officer and corporate secretary.

O’Connor joins at a time when Walmart is rapidly transforming its customer and associate experiences. The new function will focus on how Walmart uses data and technology in a way that supports the company’s goal to be the most trusted retailer.

O’Connor was most recently at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a global nonprofit focused on digital civil liberties, where she served as president and CEO. In the private sector, she served as vice president of compliance and customer trust and associate general counsel for privacy and data protection at Amazon, was the chief privacy leader at General Electric, and held privacy leadership and legal counsel roles at DoubleClick. In the public sector, Nuala served as the first chief privacy officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as deputy director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, and later as chief counsel for technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

J.C. Penney

J.C. Penney Co. announced that Colin Dougherty, a senior executive with more than 25 years of finance experience, will join the company on Sept. 23 as senior vice president of finance, reporting to Bill Wafford, chief financial officer.

Dougherty will be responsible for leading finance strategy, operations and financial planning and analysis.

Dougherty joins J.C. Penney from Storch Advisors, a New York-based business strategy consulting firm, where he advised clients on strategy, growth, mergers and acquisitions, e-commerce and innovation. Prior to Storch Advisors, Dougherty served as senior vice president, financial planning and analysis, for Hudson’s Bay Co.

Related Stories

Yoox Net-A-Porter

Yoox Net-A-Porter announced Friday the strengthening of its management team with five new senior executive appointments across the company.

Pete Marsden has joined the business as chief technology officer (CTO) to spearhead the group’s technology program and the delivery of the domain’s key milestones, including a major focus on mobile, personalization and AI to enrich the customer experience.

Working closely with the wider business and reporting into Olivier Schaeffer, global chief operating officer, Marsden will lead the company’s global technology team across London and Bologna, Italy. He joined Yoox Net-A-Porter from Aviva, where he was CTO and previously held the top technology positions at House of Fraser and Asos.

Paolo Inga has been appointed as global human resources director. Inga will also sit on the group’s executive committee and report to Federico Marchetti, chairman and CEO of Yoox Net-A-Porter Group. Most recently, Inga spent 11 years at Vodafone, where he was human resources leader for Vodafone Shared Services.

Two key appointments were also made within the group’s luxury division. Nicola Brandolese will join the business this month as managing director of Net-A-Porter. Reporting into Yoox Net-A-Porter Group luxury division president Alison Loehnis, Brandolese will be responsible for the day-to-day management of Net-A-Porter, driving the brand’s global expansion and overseeing its commercial strategy. Based in the London headquarters, Brandolese most recently was CEO at Giuseppe Zanotti.

Thierry Pichon has joined the luxury division in the newly created role of vice president of global sales and customer experience. Pichon has overall leadership of the division’s personal shopping and client relations program. He joins Yoox Net-A-Porter from Level, where he was general manager and helped institute a new e-commerce platform for the business. His experience also spans strategic roles at R.M. Williams and Gucci.

In the group’s fashion division, Alessia Crivelli has joined the Yoox team in the newly created role of brand and communications director. She will be responsible for developing and executing the branding strategy of Yoox, coordinating the creative, public relations and communications, branding projects and design and art teams. Most recently, she has been brand ambassador, and content and strategy creator for Worldwide Shows Corp.

Sportsman’s Warehouse

Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, an outdoor sporting goods retailer appointed Philip C. Williamson to the company’s board of directors, bringing the board to eight members.

Williamson has spent more than 35 years at Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company, better known by its brand Dickies. He currently serves in an advisory role to Dickies, after serving as president from October 2017 to July 2019. Prior to that, he was chairman, president and CEO of Dickies from January 1997 until October 2017, at which time Williamson Dickie Manufacturing Company was acquired by VF Corp.

Brands

Li Ning

Li Ning Co. announced that interim CEO Li Ning was re-designated as the joint CEO of the Company, while Kosaka Takeshi was appointed as executive director and joint CEO.

Prior to joining the Li Ning, Takeshi was vice general manager and chief operating officer of the Uniqlo China and CEO of Uniqlo South Korea.

As joint CEOs, Li and Kosaka will cooperatively promote the sustainable business development of the company. Li will focus on the overall control and strategic planning of the company and continue to closely work with the management team on business development. Kosaka will concentrate on operations, including supply chain, products, merchandising and retail management.

Li Ning Co. manufactures sportswear and sporting goods, including leisure footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories under the Li-Ning brand. Headquartered in Beijing, the company has brand marketing, research and development, design, manufacturing, distribution and retail capabilities, including an extensive retail distribution network and supply chain management system in China.

Richemont

Richemont announced that Eric Vallat, head of fashion and accessories brands, will step down from his current position and from the senior executive committee, effective Oct. 26. Rémy Cointreau said Vallat will become its CEO on Dec 1.

Richemont’s fashion and accessories brands will now report to Jérôme Lambert, group CEO. Richemont operates the fashion and accessories brands Dunhill, Alaïa, Chloé, Montblanc and Peter Millar.

Merrell

Wolverine World Wide Inc. appointment Chris Hufnagel as global brand president of Merrell, the largest brand within its portfolio.

A 10-year veteran of Wolverine, Hufnagel most recently served as global brand president of Cat Footwear. In his new role, Hufnagel will continue reporting to Todd Spaletto, president of the Wolverine Michigan Group. Hufnagel replaces Sue Rechner, who is leaving the company.

Wolverine World Wide brand cadre also includes Sperry, Hush Puppies, Saucony, Wolverine, Keds, Stride Rite, Chaco, Bates and Hytest. The company also is the global footwear licensee of Cat and Harley-Davidson. The company’s products are carried by leading retailers in the U.S. and globally in approximately 200 countries and territories.