Michael Robinson’s responsibilities include building an e-commerce site with J.C. Penney.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., the media and merchandising company behind celebrity homemaker Martha Stewart, has hired Michael Robinson to build out its own e-commerce presence and to help build the e-commerce web site it is developing with J.C. Penney Co. Inc. 

Robinson will take on the role of vice president of e-commerce, a newly created position. Robinson hails most recently from apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc., where he led the development and launch of e-commerce for that company’s Anthropologie unit, Martha Stewart Living says. He most recently was head of e-commerce for Anthropologie Europe. Urban Outfitters is No. 48 in Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide.  

Earlier in his career, Robinson worked for outdoor furniture retailer Smith & Hawken Ltd., which Target Corp. (No. 23) acquired the assets of in 2010, and Banana Republic, a unit of Gap Inc., No. 22 in the Internet Retailer Top 500.

“Michael brings a great background from several innovative, successful lifestyle retail brands, as well as an understanding of the markets we’re targeting and the best ways to attract those consumers to an e-commerce environment,” says Lisa Gersh, president and chief operating officer of Martha Stewart Living. Robinson will report to Gersh.

Late last year Martha Stewart Living and J.C. Penney, No. 20, announced that J.C. Penney had invested $38.5 million in Martha Stewart Living, giving Penney’s a 16.6% stake in the company. The investment also included a 10-year agreement that the companies will jointly develop an e-commerce site that will launch in 2013 and feature Stewart’s expertise and sell home and lifestyle products.

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