Michaels adds new position to its exec leadership team

The Michaels Companies has tapped a Dick’s Sporting Goods executive to head up its omnichannel efforts.
 
Michaels, the nation’s largest arts and crafts retailer, appointed Vidya Jwala to the newly created role of chief customer officer, responsible for the creation of an omnichannel, customer-centric business strategy across all digital, physical and social touchpoints within the brand. He will lead IT, marketing, customer relationship management, loyalty, business analytics and external vendors to optimize the Michaels customer experience

Jwala joins Michaels from Dick’s Sporting Goods, where he has served as chief eCommerce and supply chain officer since August 2018. Prior to Dick's, he served as senior VP of merchandising, supply chain, technology & customer service at Overstock.com. Previously, he was VP of merchandising & operations at Walmart Stores, from 2009 to 2016. 

In other appointments, Scott Lindblom has been promoted to executive VP – chief information officer and Holly Shaskey-Platek has been promoted to executive VP – chief human resources officer.

The appointments followed shortly after Michaels named Mark S. Cosby as CEO. Cosby has been serving as interim CEO of Michaels and a board member since February 2019, following the abrupt departure of Chuck Rubin.  

“These changes will enhance our ability to execute against our long-term strategy and facilitate our ability to continue delivering value to our customers and stakeholders,” said Cosby. “My focus has been to bring together the right talent to deliver our customer-centric strategy.”

Michaels operates more than 1,200 Michaels stores in 49 states and Canada.