Genesco names new board chair
Genesco Inc. is giving its president and CEO another title.
The footwear retailer, whose banners include Journeys and Johnston & Murphy, said that Mimi E. Vaughn has been named to the additional position of chair of the board of directors, effective July 1, 2020. Vaughn will succeed Robert J. Dennis, implementing the final step of a transition plan that began in 2018.
Dennis, who served as Genesco president and CEO from 2008 to 2020 and most recently as executive chairman, will retire from the board effective June 30, 2020, after serving as chairman for the past 10 years.
In October 2019, Vaughn was elected to Genesco's board of directors and named president and CEO, effective on February 1, 2020. She joined Genesco as VP – strategy and business development in 2003, was promoted to senior vice president – strategy and business development in 2006, and was named senior VP – strategy and shared services in 2009. Vaughn became CFO in 2015, and was named Genesco's COO in January 2018.
"Mimi's strategic insight into our businesses will serve our board in an impactful way,” stated Dennis. “She is a dynamic leader as demonstrated through her successive roles at Genesco, including most recently as president and chief executive officer. Over the past several months with the COVID-19 pandemic disruption, she has done an exceptional job leading the company during extraordinary times.”
Matthew C. Diamond, a veteran of Genesco's board, and former chief executive officer of Alloy Media and Alloy, Inc., will continue to serve as the company's lead independent director.
Genesco Inc. operates more than 1,475 retail stores throughout the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, principally under the names Journeys, Journeys Kidz, Schuh, Schuh Kids, Little Burgundy, Johnston & Murphy, and on internet websites.
In addition, Genesco sells wholesale footwear under its Johnston & Murphy brand, the Trask brand, the licensed Dockers brand, the licensed Levi's brand, the licensed Bass brand, and other brands.