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Careers
28 February
SaksOff5th hires ecommerce chief, Loop brings on marketing lead
On the Move has updates from r.e.m. beauty, Farfetch and Foot Locker.

Franchesca Hashim is the new CMO of Loop. (Courtesy photo)
Welcome to On the Move. Every week, The Current is rounding up the comings and goings of leaders at brands and retailers across the ecommerce, retail and CPG landscape.
This week, SaksOff5th.com has a new head of ecommerce, Loop appoints a new head of marketing to spearhead ambitious market expansion plans and Ariana Grande’s beauty brand has new leadership in place following a spinout.
SaksOff5th.com hires head of ecommerce
Julie Mares was hired as head of ecommerce at SaksOff5th.com, WWD reported. She will oversee website and app design, customer experience, merchandising and digital content strategy.
Previously Mares served as head of ecommerce and omnichannel at UnTuckIt. She also brings experience from Walmart, Simon Property Group, Gucci, Century 21 and Macy’s over a 20-year career.
“There is incredible opportunity ahead for the SaksOff5th.com business,” Mares said in a statement. “By implementing a holistic, data-driven e-commerce strategy, we will be well equipped to evolve our digital capabilities and positioned to provide a best-in-class site experience for our customers.”
Loop taps head of marketing
Franchesca Hashim was appointed head of marketing at Loop, the baby gear rental startup led by former Glossier CMO Ali Weiss.
Hashim previously served as head of brand marketing at Masterclass, and brings more than 15 years of experience working with brands such as Everlane, Airbnb and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Loop launched in 2021 with $5.6 million in seed funding to bring a shared economy model to the $175 billion durable baby products market. Its catalog includes more than 200 toys and baby gear items for rental, with no setup required.
Hashim comes as Loop is planning expansion into Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, and is eying age groups beyond 3+.
Hashim will begin by hiring a team to execute in areas including market expansion, customer engagement and experience, as well as community programming.
Ariana Grande’s beauty brand names new CEO
Michelle Shigemasa was hired as CEO of r.e.m beauty, the beauty brand owned by Ariana Grande.
Bringing more than 20 years experience, Shigemasa has previously held leadership positions at skincare brand Murad and color cosmetics company Smashbox.
The hire comes after Grande acquired the assets of r.e.m. beauty from previous parent Forma Brands, which filed for bankruptcy last month.
Farfetch CFO to leave at end of the year
Elliot Jordan is set to depart luxury ecommerce platform Farfetch from the role of chief financial officer by the end of 2023.
Jordan served in the role for more than eight years, as the company transitioned from private to public, and grew GMV to $4.1 billion. He is staying on through 2023 while the company conducts a search for a successor.
“We are some way off from saying our ‘goodbyes’ but his legacy will be formidable finance and business services teams that are part of a company that we believe is extremely well placed to continue to lead the industry and drive profitable growth – and Elliot has been an important building block of our success,” said Farfetch CEO José Neves.
Foot Locker appoints interim CFO
Robert Higginbotham was named interim CFO at Foot Locker. This will be an additional role on top of duties as SVP of investor relations, financial planning and analysis, which he assumed in December 2022. Previously, Higginbotham spent nearly 20 years on Wall Street as an equity research analyst and portfolio manager.
The March 1 transition for Higginbotham comes as the retailer continues a search for a successor to Andrew E. Page, who will be leaving the company on Feb. 28.
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Brand News
17 March
New Honest CEO plans to apply Amazon experience to ecommerce
Carla Vernón is also bringing learnings from General Mills to the brand's category strategy.
Photo by Flickr user Abi Porter, used under a Creative Commons license.
The Honest Company’s new CEO is eyeing upgrades to the brand’s ecommerce strategy, and considering category expansion.
Carla Vernón joined Honest in December, bringing experience as VP of consumables categories at Amazon and leader of recognizable brands such as Cheerios, Annie’s and Nature Valley for General Mills.
Vernón will now marry the commerce acumen she built with those companies to a premium brand that is driven by purpose. Founded by Jessica Alba in 2012, the digitally-native Honest makes products in personal care, beauty, baby and household products. The company has taken off in the baby category, as 60% of revenue came from diapers and wipes in the fourth quarter.
“Honest is a brand built on a number of values... clean formulations, high-quality ingredients and input, products where you can believe the quality is worth the value that you are paying for them,” Vernón said on the company’s earnings call to recap the fourth quarter and full-year of 2022.
Vernón said the brand has “unique DNA,” in that it was built by “thoroughly modern” entrepreneurs that typically speak to a younger set, but cuts across demographic lines. That can set up expansion into new categories.
“Honest is a brand that needs to speak to all consumers, all demographics, all cultural groups, all life stages,” Vernón said. “I am extremely confident that the shoulders of Honest are broad, that the shoulders of Honest are strong to bear the weight of many categories and that there are categories waiting for Honest values to come in and energize the category and change what consumers think they can expect from the category.”
This will require a balance: Honest wants to be thoughtful about where the brand can “lead, innovate and win,” Vernón said.
“We exist to push our categories farther with our purpose-driven ethos,” Vernón said.
At the same time, it wants to find a fit with its margin strategy, and ensure it can maintain a premium positioning that has taken a hit as a result of price increases among brands across the landscape amid inflation. Honest may de-prioritize or exit some categories along the way.
In particular, Vernon believes investing in hero products can help propel the brand.
“That’s something I learned on brands like Nature Valley, a business that had many, many SKU offerings, but some of them are very core, driving the fundamental growth and business model of the brand and then new places to play where they will really fit our business model as we go forward,” Vernón said.
The company’s fourth quarter results underscore why there may be a need to explore expansion. Revenue increased 2% over the prior year, but consumption was up 15%. The company recorded a net loss of $12.6 million.
The results showed a disparity between channels: Digital revenue declined 14%, while retail revenue increased 18%. Revenue was 57% retail, 43% digital.
The company said online orders were lagging consumption. Honest saw 8% consumption growth on Amazon, but also saw the ecommerce giant take a more cautious approach to inventory. With the cost of digital advertising going up amid rising CACs and privacy-oriented changes, it also shifted marketing spend to realize key opportunities in retail.
Vernón said the brand is also aiming to overhaul its ecommerce experience. Vernón is set to draw on her work with Amazon overseeing many of the same categories where Honest has a presence. These include babycare, household products, food, beverages, health and wellness and beauty.
At Amazon, Vernón was credited with elevating the shopping experience for beauty. She introduced more emerging and prestige brands, launched virtual lipstick try-on and created the first-ever beauty-focused holiday shopping event, called Amazon’s Holiday Beauty Haul.
Now, Vernón plans to work closely with the honest.com team to make sure the brand is meeting the expectations of the digital shopper.
“That has everything to do with things from being efficient in the experience of the storefront, really making sure you maximize the storefront so that the consumer transactions are clear, efficient and fast and so that we can really customize what we show to customers on the storefront so that when they are shopping, it’s an experience that’s highly relevant for them,” Vernón said.
While retail has gained more focus as partnerships with Target and Walmart have driven not only growth but incremental customers, Honest Company's overall strategy remains grounded in both channels. That means it is taking care to provide a standout presence on the ecommerce channels of retailers, as well as its direct-to-consumer site.
“As we continue to grow with our retail partners, we want to make sure that Honest is effectively being brought to life in the digital mediums that they are continuing to grow and invest in,” Vernón said.
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