Bulk-item retailer Boxed Wholesale is undergoing a change in leadership amid speculation that it may sell the company to Amazon.com Inc. or Kroger Co. Boxed’s executive in charge of the company’s fastest-growing business-to-business division, Behzad Soltani, has resigned to take a C-level role at another company.
Boxed, No. 326 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 1000, has yet to comment on the potential acquisition or discuss a replacement for Soltani’s role.
Soltani joined Boxed as a vice president in July, after working as vice president of global e-commerce and business development at Staples (No. 5) and vice president of digital strategy and e-commerce at Keurig (No. 100).
“Behzad Soltani decided to leave the company and pursue other opportunities,” a Boxed spokesman said about Soltani’s departure. “We wish him all the best. In his time with Boxed, he helped build a dedicated team focused on serving the needs of B2B customers across the United States.”
Heather Mayo, Boxed’s chief merchandising officer, also left Boxed this past fall after only a year on the job.
In other e-commerce personnel news:
- Avon Products, Inc. (No. 71) announced that Jan Zijderveld has been appointed CEO. Zijderveld also will serve as a member of the board of directors. Before Avon, he had a 30-year-career at Unilever as a member of Unilever’s executive committee and as president of Unilever’s European business.
- Keri Jones has been named CEO and a member of the board at Christopher & Banks (No. 363), effective March 12. Previously, she was chief merchant at Dick’s Sporting Goods (No. 56). She also held several leadership positions at Target Corp. (No. 20). “She is a versatile global executive displaying outstanding leadership with a proven record of driving results through consumer-focused strategy development,” said Kent Kleeberger, Christopher & Banks chairman.
- Colin Bodell joins Groupon as chief technology officer to lead the company’s global engineering efforts. Prior to Groupon, Bodell was CTO at both American Eagle (No. 67) and Time Inc. He also held a number of senior engineering positions at Amazon (No. 1).
- President of Saks Fifth Avenue, Marc Metrick, will expand his leadership role to include Gilt and Saks OFF 5TH. Metrick has served in a number of leadership roles for Saks Fifth Avenue. Before assuming the president role in April 2015, he served as chief marketing officer and chief administrative officer of Hudson Bay Company (HBC), where he played an instrumental role in the acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue.
- Genesco Inc. (No. 525) announced that Danny Ewoldsen has been named president of the company’s Johnston & Murphy division, effective Feb. 4. His expanded responsibilities will include wholesale and retail operations. Ewoldsen, a 15-year veteran of Johnston & Murphy, previously served as executive vice president, retail and e-commerce.
- Paul Gaffney was named chief technology officer at Dick’s Sporting Goods. In this role, Gaffney is responsible for the company’s technology, including infrastructure, e-commerce platforms and new and evolving digital platforms. Gaffney was most recently at The Home Depot (No. 8), where he served as the senior vice president of information technology. Gaffney is credited with leading The Home Depot’s digital revolution, inspiring the engineering team to deliver customer-focused software to millions of customers and more than 400,000 associates.
- Lands’ End (No. 49) has announced two new executives: Gill Hong as executive vice president, chief merchandising officer and head of international and Sarah Rasmusen as senior vice president of e-commerce. Hong will lead merchandising efforts and oversee international business. Previously, Hong was executive advisor at Gap Inc. (No. 24). Ramusen was most recently at Kohl’s Corp. (No. 18), serving as vice president of digital merchandising, optimization and analytics.
- Luxury online retailer MyTheresa.com has named Richard Johnson chief commercial officer. He will oversee buying and merchandising. Johnson most recently was commercial director at MatchesFashion.com, No. 351 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Europe 500, and he previously held senior leadership roles at Harvey Nichols & Co. (No. 364) London and the Al Tayer Group in Dubai. MyTheresa.com also promoted Tiffany Hsu to fashion buying director from her role as buying manager, ready-to-wear. “With Richard and Tiffany we will further strengthen our unique positioning of a highly curated product offering combined with the most amazing array of exclusive collaborations with brands,”says MyTheresa president Michael Kliger. MyTheresa.com is part of Neiman Marcus Group, No. 41 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500.