Leadership, board changes at Delia’s
NEW YORK — Delia’s has appointed Tracy Gardner as the company’s new chief creative officer, and also as a member of the board of directors. Walter Killough, who back in January announced his intention to step down as CEO April 1, has agreed to remain in the role through August 2.
The company also named Michael Zimmerman chairman of the board, replacing Carter S. Evans, who will remain on the board.
In her new role, Gardner will be focused on the branding, merchandising and creative functional areas while Killough continues providing oversight on operations, finance and other areas of the business during the transition.
Gardner has more than 25 years of leadership experience in developing and growing omni-channel brands. She was with J.Crew from 2004 to 2010, most recently as president of retail and direct. Gardner was instrumental in revitalizing the brand, driving significant growth in sales and profitability. For the past year, she served as creative adviser to Gap Inc. Earlier in her career she held senior merchandising roles at the Gap brand, Banana Republic and Lands’ End.
“We are extremely pleased to have attracted such a highly talented executive to the Delia’s organization. Tracy is an exceptionally accomplished retailer with a proven track record that brings tremendous knowledge and experience in brand development and omni-channel retailing to our company. We look forward to leveraging her strategic vision and insight into our core customer. We would also like to thank Walter for agreeing to remain as our CEO through a transition period in order to allow Tracy to focus her initial efforts on branding, merchandising and creative for the important Back-to-School and Holiday seasons,” said Zimmerman.
“I am thrilled to join the Delia’s team. Delia’s is a great brand, and I look forward to working with the team to build even better product and a stronger connection with our customer,” added Gardner.
Delia’s, Inc. is a multi-channel retail company which operates under two lifestyle brands —Delia’s and Alloy — both of which carry apparel, accessories and footwear marketed to teenage girls and young women.