Sephora announced that Calvin McDonald has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Sephora Americas, effective on January 1, 2014. Mr. McDonald previously served as President and CEO of Sears Canada, a role he took after spending nearly two decades at Canada's Loblaw Companies, serving in a variety of senior executive positions. He has distinguished himself as a world-class retailing executive by his exceptional creativity in marketing and creating compelling customer experiences rooted in exciting brands and product innovation. Mr. McDonald assumes his new role at Sephora Americas from David Suliteanu, who has led Sephora since July 2000.
Mr. Suliteanu is becoming the CEO of Kendo Brands, a separate LVMH entity which creates new beauty brands in partnership with creative leaders as well as acquires brands. The Kendo portfolio today includes brands such as Ole Henriksen, Kat von D, Formula X, and Marc Jacobs Beauty, with others in development.
Under Mr. Suliteanu's leadership, Sephora has revolutionized the beauty industry in North America, by creating an entirely new retail shopping experience. Today, Sephora Americas offers in excess of 200 classic and emerging brands and is known as the destination for the freshest and most exciting assortment in beauty, and easily accessible expert advice and services from highly trained cast members (salespeople). Mr. Suliteanu and his team have: expanded Sephora's base of stores in North America to more than 330; opened the Latin American market; led Sephora's successful partnership with JC Penney now with more than 400 locations; launched Beauty Insider Sephora's enormously successful client-loyalty program; and driven state-of-the-art enhancements to Sephora's award-winning digital strategy.
"Calvin McDonald has established himself as a visionary and highly talented industry leader at two of Canada's largest and most important retailers. We are delighted to welcome him to Sephora Americas. He will focus on building on the extraordinary growth of the business in new and existing markets and continue Sephora's exceptional track record of industry leadership driven by David Suliteanu," said Christopher de Lapuente, CEO of Sephora Global and a member of the Executive Committee of LVMH. "David is moving on to lead Kendo, an incubator of exciting and creative brands beauty brands. I am delighted that he will continue to contribute to the success of Sephora and LVMH."
Mr. Suliteanu said, "Thanks to a phenomenal team and the support of LVMH, the last 13 years at Sephora have been amazing. Based on his background in creating new and exciting consumer experiences, Calvin will be a great leader for the Sephora Americas team." He continued, "I am excited about the opportunity to continue to work with LVMH and Sephora in growing this new business model that a few years ago was just an idea."
Mr. Mc Donald said, "It is thrilling to be joining Sephora Americas, which is known across the retail industry for not only having revolutionized the beauty business but also for delivering a consistent stream of innovation in terms of merchandise, experience and digital capabilities that excite and inspire customers. I am looking forward to working with the exceptional Sephora team to build on what they have accomplished under David's leadership. Sephora Americas is an amazing success story, and I am proud and privileged to work with our cast members, brand partners and customers and colleagues worldwide as we work to take Sephora Americas to the next level of innovation and growth."
Both Sephora Americas and Kendo will report to Mr. de Lapuente.
About Mr. McDonald
Over the past two decades, Mr. McDonald has distinguished himself as a world-class retailing executive. In addition to his focus on exceptional consumer experiences, he is known for his collaborative leadership skills, strong vendor relationships, and ability to drive revenue while managing businesses efficiently and effectively.
Prior to accepting the position at Sephora Americas, Mr. McDonald was named President of CEO of Sears Canada in 2011, the separately listed Canadian business of Sears. He was charged with turning around the business, which had lost more than $1 billion in revenues (bringing it to $4.5 billion) and had seen significant gross margin decline. Leading employees across both its retail and direct businesses, he developed a transformation growth plan focused on product, innovation and improving culture. Based on his efforts, the Company has reported positive comparable store sales in apparel for three quarters in a row, the first time in over seven years.
Mr. McDonald began his career at the Loblaw Companies, which is Canada's largest food retailer with more than $32 billion in sales and is known for its innovative Private label products across a variety of categories, including health and beauty, apparel, food, and others. During his 18-year tenure at Loblaw, Mr. McDonald held various roles of increasing seniority across its many divisions, becoming Executive Vice President, Marketing, CRM, Loblaw Brands & Corporate Strategy in 2009 and subsequently EVP of the Conventional Supermarket Division. Among his many achievements was launching the most successful and integrated category campaign for President's Choice, the most successful Private brand in Canada, as well as launching the 'Recipes to Riches' TV show.
Mr. McDonald graduated from the University of Western Ontario and holds a MBA from the Rotman School of Business. He sits on the Boards of Directors of GS1 and the Canadian Retail Council. He is also a member of the Canadian Council of CEOs and was recognized as one of Canada's "Top 40 Under 40" by leading Canadian executives.
About Mr. Suliteanu
In July 2000, Mr. Suliteanu was named President and CEO of Sephora Americas, and over his 13-year tenure in the position spearheaded the dramatic growth and success of the Sephora business in transforming the beauty landscape in North America - and now Latin America.
Before joining Sephora, Mr. Suliteanu was Group President for Diversified Businesses from 1998 to 2000 at Home Depot. In that position, he was responsible for a number of innovative businesses including, the Expo Design Center, Home Depot's upscale remodeling and décor showrooms, and Villager's Hardware, smaller-format hardware stores. Prior to that, he spent seven years at Macy's East, the largest division of Federated Department Stores. He began his tenure there as SVP and General Merchandise Manager and subsequently served as Vice Chairman and Director of Stores.
Before joining Macy's East in 1993, Mr. Suliteanu held multiple leadership positions in the retail industry, including: SVP and General Merchandise Manager of Foley's; Regional VP of Stores at Sanger Harris; and VP and Store Manager at Macy's West. He began his career at Bullocks in 1975. Mr. Suliteanu received a B.A. in economics from Stanford University.
ABOUT SEPHORA
Since 1998, Sephora has been TRANSFORMING BEAUTY in the U.S. Today, Sephora Americas operates more than 330 stores in the U.S. and Canada as well as the world's top beauty website, Sephora.com. In 2010 Sephora expanded into Latin America where it partnered with the Brazilian beauty market leader Sacks.com, in 2011 opened two retail stores in Mexico and in 2012 opened one retail location in Brazil. Sephora is well known for its unique retail concept, which is rooted in its distinctive open-sell store design, the beauty expertise of its sales consultants and, most importantly, its unparalleled combination of over 200 classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, color, fragrance, bath & body, smilecare, and haircare, as well as Sephora's own Private label. Sephora has also been recognized as a leading digital brand and continues to advance this arena through mobile and social media initiatives including an active Facebook page, BeautyTalk-its online beauty community, its mobile site and Apps. In addition to its North and Latin American business and its initiative with JCPenney, which includes more than 400 Sephora inside JCPenney locations, Sephora today has more than 1,780 stores within 29 countries in Europe and 115 locations in China. Sephora was founded in France in 1970 and acquired in 1997 by Paris-based LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's leading luxury products group. For further information, please visit www.sephora.com
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