Saks names president of direct unit

NEW YORK — Saks has named Michael Burgess as president of its direct business, effective May 7, 2012. Burgess will report to Denise Incandela, EVP and chief marketing officer for Saks Fifth Avenue and current president of Saks direct.

Burgess has served as EVP of the consumer division of FTD at United Online since 2008 where he led merchandising, marketing, consumer information technology, and several other functions of the growing FTD North America business segment. Burgess held the post of VP and general manager, internet business, of Teleflora LLC between 2006 and 2008. Prior to that, he held various executive positions with Better Life Media Inc., Selby Venture Partners, ForRetail, and Crossworlds Software Inc. He began his business career at McKinsey & Company, where he led and served on teams providing strategic management services to several Global 500 companies in a variety of industries. Burgess earned his Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and his Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Chairman and CEO of Saks, Steve Sadove, commented, “Michael is a proven leader with a terrific track record of industry-leading performance. His experience as a business operator in strategically growing online organizations makes him a great fit for this important role. He will be a strong partner to Denise Incandela and the rest of the team at Saks.”