KappAhl’s new CEO is Lindex’s Elisabeth Pereg

Struggling fashion retailer KappAhl, which owns the Lindex and Newbie chains, has named Lindex exec Elisabeth Peregi as the parent company’s new group President and CEO. Peregi, who “has a solid leadership and retail experience,” will take up her new position during spring next year

Chairman Anders Bülow talked up her “wide expertise and industry experience,” and said she “has what it takes to successfully lead KappAhl through the rapid development of our industry.”

The 47-year-old graduate of the University of Gothenburg’s School of Business, Economics and Law has spent 19 years at the Lindex chain. Most recently she was Country Manager Sweden and Great Britain, and before that, acting President and CEO. Previously, she had been CFO, Head of Franchise Operations and Country Manager Norway.

“KappAhl is a strong brand and I am looking forward to leading the company to new successes together with my new colleagues,” she said.

Sixty-five-year-old KappAhl operates 370 stores under its Lindex and Newbie brands and generated sales of SEK4.8 billion in its latest fiscal year.

Listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, it has faced challenging times of late and has seen plenty of management change.

In June, board member Göran Bille took over as acting CEO with immediate effect as Danny Feltmann exited his position as CEO on the back of weak results and disagreements over strategy.

Then in September it said that Maria Segergren, VP Assortment and Design at KappAhl, had resigned and would leave next spring.

Source: fashionnetwork.com

Italian menswear label Corneliani replaces CEO Paolo Roviera with Luigi Ferrando

On 26 November, Italian luxury menswear label Corneliani announced a major change at the head of the company: Paolo Roviera, CEO and General Manager of Corneliani since July 2016, has stepped down by mutual consent with the company. The board of directors has unanimously appointed Luigi Ferrando as the new CEO in his place. Ferrando is an experienced manager, having served as CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer for several Italian companies, among them Welfare Company, Valota, Vitaldent and Unopiù.

Corneliani, contacted by FashionNetwork.com, confirmed the growth targets set by the eponymous founding family in the strategic plan drawn up in June 2016, when Bahraini investment fund Investcorp acquired a 51% stake in Corneliani. The Italian label was then valued at about $100 million, approximately €88 million.

Corneliani’s retail expansion is chiefly targeting the USA, one of the most attractive markets for high-end menswear. The label is present in the USA with offices and a showroom in New York, where it plans to open its first monobrand store in the country. Asia is Corneliani’s second retail priority. The label already operates several monobrand stores in the region, managed with local partners in both China and Japan, and is planning to open new franchises. Further retail expansion is also planned in the UK and Russia.

In 2017, Corneliani generated a revenue of €111 million, on par with 2016. The Italian market accounted for 25% of the total. Corneliani currently operates about 100 monobrand stores worldwide, between directly operated and franchised ones. According to the label, its three-year objective is to reach 150 stores, growing the share of revenue generated by the direct retail channel in the medium term to 35-40%, as opposed to the current 20%.

Source: fashionnetwork.com