Lou Weiss has been named chief marketing officer for The Vitamin Shoppe. He assumes the job from his position as vice president and general manager of Vitamin Shoppe Direct. The chief marketing officer position is a new one for The Vitamin Shoppe.

As a leader in the health and wellness industry, it is important that we are reaching out to our customers with one voice, says Tony Truesdale, president of The Vitamin Shoppe.

Weiss will be responsible for all customer acquisition and relationship marketing, Vitamin Shoppe’s Healthy Awards loyalty program, and marketing and advertising for the retail and direct-to-consumer businesses.

Weiss will also continue to be responsible for overall performance of the direct-to-consumer business including the Internet, catalog and customer service.

Before joining The Vitamin Shoppe, No. 186 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, in 2006, Weiss was president of Gaiam Direct, a subsidiary of Gaiam Inc., No. 278, where he had responsibility for the direct-to-consumer businesses. Before Gaiam, he held positions at private equity/venture capital-backed direct-to-consumer businesses.

Weiss is speaking at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, June 15-18, in Boston, in a session entitled The web`s growing importance-and what it means to chains and catalogs.