Ralph Lauren poaches Coach, Amazon execs as part of turnaround

Days after announcing its “Way Forward Plan” reorganizational plan, Ralph Lauren Corp. named three new senior executives who will help oversee it.



As previously reported, Jane Nielsen has been named CFO, effective Sept. 6, 2016. Nielsen comes to Ralph Lauren from Coach, where she served as executive VP and CFO. She will have responsibility for all finance functions at Ralph Lauren, and will oversee store operations, procurement, IT, and investor relations. Current Ralph Lauren CFO Robert L. Madore will remain with the company through the end of September to facilitate a seamless transition.



In other appointments, Amazon veteran Bill Campbell has been named corporate senior VP of global supply chain and inventory management, effective Oct. 1, 2016. He has been at Amazon for the past 11 years in key distribution and logistics leadership roles, and has expertise in managing inventory, improving supply chain performance and reducing delivery times for customers.



Jeffrey Kuster has been named group president for the Americas, effective July 11, 2016. He has held leadership roles at HSN, Inc., Fruit of the Loom, Inc. and VF Corp., and will oversee all commercial activities for the Americas region, including wholesale, retail, e-commerce, factory, travel retail and Latin America.



Nielsen, Campbell and Kuster will all report directly to Stefan Larsson, president and CEO



We are thrilled to have attracted these three high-performance leaders – all of whom have best-in-class knowledge that is directly aligned to our Way Forward Plan,” said Larsson. “With Jane’s key role as a change agent at Coach, Bill’s supply chain experience at Amazon, and Jeff’s track record of building high-quality omnichannel sales for leading consumer brands, we will be even better positioned to strengthen our underlying business engines and drive profitable sales and shareholder returns.”



In the company’s first-ever investor presentation on June 7, founder Ralph Lauren admitted it had “dropped the ball,” but was prepared to turn things around with the Way Forward Plan. Perhaps most significantly, the vertical retailer plans to close more than 50 stores, or about 10% of its total footprint. Ralph Lauren also intends to bring in a new executive who will be tasked with overseeing the location and design of new stores.