Janie and Jack names industry vet Linda Heasley as CEO

Janie and Jack has named a new chief executive to help it position for growth in international markets.

The premium childrenswear brand, which offers sizes from newborn through tween, appointed Linda Heasley as president and CEO. She previously held the CEO role at J.Jill, Lane Bryant/Cacique and The Limited. Heasley has served on the board of Sally Beauty since 2017.

Janie and Jack was acquired in March 2018 by Gap Inc. from Gymboree Corp. Earlier this year, Gap sold the brand to brand investment platform Go Global Retail. The transaction included Janie and Jack’s e-commerce platform as well as all store leases and assets.

"We are thrilled to have Linda join the company to lead our long-range plans,” said Jeff Streader, managing Partner with Go Global. “We will see elevated growth through our plans for international and digital expansion."

Janie and Jack operates 117 U.S. stores. While 98% of its business is domestic, the company noted that strong interest is developing from the Middle East, the U.K. and Europe.

"Janie and Jack is a wonderful brand that has separated itself from other brands in the marketplace through exceptional product and innovative marketing,” stated Heasley. “I look forward to working with the leadership team to bring this successful, extraordinary brand to new customers globally."

Heasley added that "the company is in the midst of upgrading its technology infrastructure and performance marketing through investment into a CDP, customer segmentation software and tokenization. We aspire to build out our unified commerce platform to deliver best-in-class customer experiences across all channels of engagement."