Dive Temporary:
- Including one other C-suite government to its ranks, Belk employed MaryAnne Morin to change into its new president and chief merchandising officer, the retailer introduced Tuesday.
- Upon beginning her new place on Wednesday, Morin will handle the corporate’s merchandising, planning and personal model groups, in response to the press launch.
- Previous to becoming a member of Belk, Morin was beforehand the president of Stein Mart and the Republic Clothes Group. She additionally labored at Hudson Bay Firm, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s and Echo Design Group.
Dive Perception:
Morin joins Belk because the retailer is finding out its management. In 2021, the corporate introduced that its earlier president and chief merchandising officer, Nir Patel, had change into its new CEO following the departure of its former chief government Lisa Harper. Belk additionally promoted Don Hendricks from COO to president, and Chris Kolbe joined the corporate from Kohl’s to change into its new chief service provider.
However the modifications didn’t cease there. This September, the retailer introduced that Hendricks would ascend Belk’s chief government function. He had served because the interim CEO since Could and had been the corporate COO since 2016. Patel departed the CEO function to affix GameStop as its new COO.
Nonetheless, Patel’s departure to GameStop catalyzed a court docket battle. The division retailer sued Patel and GameStop, alleging poaching. The corporate additionally accused Tim Could, beforehand a senior provide chain government at Belk, of taking confidential data from the retailer.
Morin steps into the chief merchandiser function as the corporate faces a decline in foot site visitors compared to final 12 months, which was fueled by stimulus funds and retailer reopenings. Between June and September, Belk noticed its in-store foot site visitors shrink compared to final 12 months, in response to a Placer.ai evaluation. It noticed the very best drop in brick-and-mortar foot site visitors in June (-11.7%), however the year-over-year hole started to shut in July (-9.8%), August (-7.2%) and September (-3.4%).
“We’re at all times striving to offer our prospects with the perfect buying experiences, which embrace providing high quality merchandise they need at costs they’ll afford,” Hendricks stated in an announcement. “MaryAnne’s wealth of information will assist us make that have even higher, whether or not prospects are buying in our shops, on Belk.com or our cell app.”
