Former Michaels’ exec to lead DSW
Designer Brands Inc. has appointed an experienced merchant to its senior leadership team.
The footwear giant named Laura Denk as president of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and executive VP of Designer Brands, effective July 24, 2023. She succeeds Doug Howe, a 17-year company veteran who was named CEO of Designer Brands in April.
Most recently, Denk served as chief merchandising officer and executive VP at Michaels, from 2020 to 2022. Before that, she was general merchandise manager at the arts-and-craft retailer.
Prior to joining Michaels in 2015, Denk was with Claire’s Stores for seven years. She also held a leadership position at Macy's.
In her new role, Denk will be responsible for leading the company’s nearly 500 U.S. stores and e-commerce channel along with helping to further elevate Designer Brands' owned brands and national brands. Owned brands are expected to be the key driver of the company’s growth during the next five years, with plans to double sales of the brands by fiscal 2026.
"I am confident in Laura's ability to lead the DSW organization forward in ways that will further elevate and grow the profile of our owned brands, while ensuring we maintain our critical, core relationships with our top national brands within our retail footprint,” said Howe. “Our 30 million loyalty customers can expect an exciting future ahead for DSW, with Laura's expertise driving us to the next phase of growth, while maintaining our position as a leader in the footwear space."
In a release, Designer Brands said that Denk brings to the company an extensive background in merchandising and an affinity for building strong vendor partnerships, along with significant experience in augmenting customer experiences and elevating private brands.
"I am thrilled to be joining DSW at such an exciting time in DSW's journey to becoming a brand builder, while leveraging its strong footprint of stores and omni-channel platform," said Denk. "The opportunity to partner with the DSW team to transform and reimagine the customer experience, especially by shining a light on Designer Brands' unique owned brands within DSW will help us build value for our customers and our shareholders."
Designer Brands is one of the world's largest designers, producers and retailers of footwear brands and accessories, with a portfolio that includes Keds, Lucky Brand, Crown Vintage, Vince Camuto, Topo Athletic, Jessica Simpson, Le Tigre and others. The company operates nearly 640 DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and The Shoe Company stores in North America and also distributes its brands internationally through select wholesale and distributor relationships.