Weekly Retail Fix

THE NEWS: COMPUSA GROWS LEADERSHIP TEAM

DALLAS —CompUSA is welcoming new additions to its leadership team, including one who is making a reappearance at the company’s headquarters. Paul Ewert returns to CompUSA as evp and gmm while Jeroen Kanters has been appointed vp of supply chain management.

Ewert will oversee CompUSA’s merchandising and marketing departments, and Kanters will help manage inventory distribution.

Ewert was CompUSA senior vp of merchandising from 1991 to 1998 and among his responsibilities were the company’s vendor relations for hardware products.

THE FIX: Experienced execs expected to boost ops

After a severe spate of store closings, CompUSA is bolstering its operations with seasoned managers. Ewert played a major role in the development and improvement of CompUSA’s store merchandising when he worked there in the ’90s. Most recently, he was senior vp of partner marketing for AOL, where he handled the company’s relationships with retailers and OEMs. While at AOL, Ewert was instrumental in the redesign of the company’s OEM and retail strategies for customer acquisition.

At Condumex, Kanters was most recently commercial vp for global operations. Condumex is part of Grupo Carso, which controls major stakes in the Sanborns department store chain and Sears Roebuck de México. Grupo Carso spun off a 51% stake in CompUSA in 2002 although its owner, Carlos Slim Helú, continues to maintain interest through other entities.