COLUMBUS, Ohio — JUNE 14, 2018 — Express Inc., a specialty retail apparel company, announced that Winnie Park was appointed to its Board of Directors as a Class III director, following the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders on June 13, 2018. Park is currently CEO for Paper Source Inc., a role she has held since September 2015. With this appointment, the size of the board has been expanded from seven to eight directors.

Park is a seasoned business executive, with leadership experience across marketing, e-commerce, merchandising, and strategy at global retail and apparel brands. Prior to joining Paper Source, she held the titles of executive vice president, Global Marketing and eCommerce and Global vice president, GMM, merchandising during her nine year tenure at Hong Kong-based luxury retailer, DFS, a division of LVMH. Additionally, Park served as senior director, Women’s Merchandising and Director, Strategy for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss and Co. Earlier in her career, she worked at McKinsey and Co., focusing on eCommerce, Apparel, and Retail. Park earned a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.

“We are excited to welcome Winnie to the Board. She is a talented, strategic leader who brings relevant and complementary skills in the areas of retailing, merchandising, e-commerce, and brand strategy. She will be a great addition to our board,” said Mylle Mangum, Chairman of the board.

“Winnie’s considerable experience supporting globally recognized brands will be an asset to Express,” said David Kornberg, president and CEO of Express. “She joins Express at an exciting time and we look forward to benefiting from her insight and expertise as we continue to transform into a leading omni-channel retailer.”

“I am honored to join the Express Board,” said Park. “Express has been a fashion authority for several decades and I look forward to collaborating with the board and management team to drive future growth.”

Posted June 14, 2018

Source: Express Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO — JUNE 13, 2018 — Gap Inc. today announced the appointment of Neil Fiske as president and CEO of Gap brand. Fiske will begin his new role on June 20, 2018, and will serve on the company’s senior leadership team, reporting to Art Peck, president and CEO of Gap Inc.

“Neil brings significant retail and apparel experience to Gap Inc. and a track record of transforming and repositioning brands,” said Peck. “He is an experienced leader who deeply understands the mechanics of this business, the value of an omnichannel strategy, and the need to build a progressive and relevant brand. I believe Neil is the right leader to strengthen Gap brand.”

“Gap is a truly iconic brand that is loved by its customers across the globe, and I am excited about the significant opportunity ahead for us,” said Fiske. “The brand has made some important progress and I look forward to working with the team to drive improved performance, operational excellence, great merchandising, and distinctive and powerful marketing.”

Fiske has 20 years of brand building and turnaround experience in specialty retailing. Most recently, he served as CEO at Billabong International, where he restored the flagship Billabong brand to a position of market leadership and multi-year share growth. Prior to that, Fiske spent five years as president and CEO at Eddie Bauer, repositioning the company to focus on its heritage as America’s original outdoor outfitter. Fiske was also CEO at Bath and Body Works, where he led a complete brand transformation, reversing a multi-year trend of negative comp store sales. Fiske began his career at Boston Consulting Group, focused on consumer goods and retail. He graduated from Harvard Business School with a Masters of Business Administration and received a B.A. in Political Economy from Williams College.

Posted June 14, 2018

Source: Gap Inc.

WARRENDALE, Pa. — JUNE 13, 2018 — r21 Holdings Inc. (rue21) has appointed Laurie Van Brunt president and CEO effective June 25, 2018. Also announced today, Michele Pascoe has been named senior vice president and CFO, and Stephen Sommers has been named senior vice president and chief marketing officer.

Van Brunt joins rue21 from Chico’s FAS Inc, where she was president of Soma Intimates from 2010 to 2017.  At Soma, she led the transformation of the company by repositioning the brand as an omni-channel intimates brand and elevating the fashion aesthetic to fill an opportunity in the market, growing sales from $87 million to $350 million

Prior to Chico’s, Van Brunt was corporate vice president, director of Private Brand Management at J. C. Penney Company Inc. from 2005-2010, where she managed the company’s private brand portfolio of 22 brands across all merchandise categories. She led teams of over 200 people per brand with over $7 billion in sales in 1,090 stores. Earlier in her career she was senior vice president and general merchandise manager at Chadwick’s of Boston; executive vice president and general merchandise manager at the Lane Bryant division of The Limited Inc., and vice president and general merchandise manager at Casual Corner-Petite Sophisticate.

Van Brunt succeeds Michael C. Appel who was named Interim CEO in October 2017. Appel will continue to serve as chairman of the Board.

In making today’s announcement, Appel said, “We are very pleased to have Laurie join rue21 to lead our management team. She is a proven results-oriented leader within all aspects of the business who has successfully led, built and turned around specialty store apparel brands. With our increased financing in place, Laurie’s leadership, our new senior team, and the utilization of innovative data analytics to drive our business, we are confident that rue21 will be an even stronger brand that delivers outstanding growth and profit.”

Pascoe joins rue21 from Alvarez & Marsal, a financial consulting firm, where she provided financial advisory services for various retail organizations.  Prior to Alvarez and Marsal, from 2013-2017, Pascoe was the chief administration officer and CFO of Marsh Supermarkets LLC, a privately- held grocery chain with sales of $850 million. From 2009 to 2013, Pascoe was senior vice president and CFO of Charming Shoppes/Fashion Bug Division, a publicly-held 800 store missy/plus apparel chain with sales of $600 million. She also served as the CFO and COO from 2007-2009 at Rachel Ashwell Designs/Shabby Chic, a high-end branded home furnishings retail and wholesale business with both licensing and manufacturing arms.

She began her fashion business career at the Warnaco Group in 1989. She remained in the company assuming progressively more senior positions in the intimates, sportswear, and swimwear brands.

About Pascoe’s appointment, Appel said: “Michele is a savvy financial executive experienced in delivering financial and operational improvements and leading change initiatives. Her innovative financial leadership in high volume, highly competitive multi-unit retail environments, and direct, hands-on experience will be invaluable as we move rue21 financially and operationally to the next level.”

Pascoe succeeds Stephen Coulombe who was named Interim CFO in March 2018.

Most recently, Sommers was chief marketing officer at Vineyard Vines, a $400+ million specialty retail and wholesale apparel brand with approximately 100 stores, a robust website, and a growing wholesale business. Leading the marketing team responsible for brand strategy, creative production, channel marketing, category marketing, CRM, PR, digital, social, corporate philanthropy, sponsorships and events, he Increased overall brand awareness and engagement while driving top line growth.

Prior to Vineyard Vines, Sommers was vice president Global Brand Marketing from 2012 to 2016 at Under Armour Inc., the sports apparel company, where he focused on brand marketing by both category and lifestyle, and delivered major campaigns for bricks and mortar, digital and Ecommerce, as well as building categories such as footwear. During the years he was vice president Global Brand Marketing, the business grew from $1.5 billion to $5 billion. Before his fashion retail business experience, Sommers had a successful 15- year career in consumer electronics marketing at such companies as Sony Electronics Inc. and Toshiba Computer Systems.

In making today’s announcement about Sommers’ appointment, Appel said, “Steve has the strong ability to create brands, drive growth, and build teams and motivate talent.  As our marketing leader, Steve has the ideal combination of creative marketing skills and savvy analytics to build the rue brand and engage our target customers.”

Posted June 13, 2018

Source: rue21