Authentic Welcomes Gaming Industry Veteran as New President

Retail

Foot Locker

The sneaker retail chain, Foot Locker, has appointed Sonia Syngal and John Venhuizen as directors on its board. Concurrently, Guillermo G. Marmol will not seek re-election for the company’s annual meeting of shareholders in 2025, in accordance with the organization’s corporate governance policies concerning age. Most recently, Syngal held the position of president and CEO of the Gap family, managing the brands Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta before her departure in 2022. Venhuizen has dedicated 30 years to Ace Hardware Corporation, progressively taking on more significant roles within the company before advancing to president and CEO a dozen years ago.

Brands

Authentic Brands Group

The brand management entity, Authentic Brands Group, has appointed Matt Maddox, the previous CEO of luxury resort builder Wynn Resorts, to the role of president. Maddox takes the place of Nick Woodhouse, who will shift to the position of executive vice chairman after completing 12 years as president and chief marketing officer. In this capacity, Maddox will aim to enhance the group’s global presence and broaden its brand offerings. He assumed the CEO role at Wynn Resorts in 2018, succeeding founder Steve Wynn, who resigned amid accusations of sexual misconduct. Maddox unexpectedly relinquished his position in 2022.

Lanvin Group

The global luxurious fashion label, Lanvin Group, has selected Andy Lew, the CEO of its internal brand St. John Knits, to be the new executive president. Eric Chan will move from his CEO role to the board as a director. With over 35 years of experience, Lew will supervise the firm’s operations, which include strategic execution, business progress, financial management, supply chain, information technology, and brand stewardship.

During this transition, Lanvin Group will set up a secondary headquarters in Europe under Lew’s leadership, as the brand pursues global expansion. He will remain an essential leader within St. John Knits while a management committee takes over daily operations.

Along with these adjustments, the board ratified an increase in membership from eight to nine and appointed Alan Liu—who will succeed Grace Fang—as directors, effective immediately.

OrthoLite

The comfort footwear solutions company, OrthoLite, has named Bo Grabowski as the country head for OrthoLite Indonesia (OID). In this capacity, Grabowski will manage operations at OID, spearheading manufacturing and business development, in addition to cultivating and managing relationships with brands and Tier 1 manufacturing partners.

Filson

Bedrock Manufacturing Company has appointed Tim Bantle as the president of Filson. With 20 years of pertinent experience, the former CEO of Eddie Bauer will guide the next phase of growth and global expansion for the Seattle-based outdoor apparel brand. Prior to his role at Eddie Bauer, Bantle was the general manager of VF Canada and held senior leadership positions at The North Face.

Technology

Ingenico

The payment services and acceptance provider, Ingenico, has announced that Scott Spencer has been appointed regional managing director for NAR and will be an executive committee member. Spencer brings over two decades of experience as a regional and business unit leader, which will be “essential” for Ingenico as it continues to expand. Spencer has driven regional growth through delivering professionalism and service excellence.customer-focused solutions in his latest position as North American president at Ascendion Corporation, an AI and cloud-driven software engineering firm.

Daydream

The product discovery platform Daydream has appointed Maria Belousova as chief technology officer. Formerly the chief digital officer of Indigo and the CTO at Grubhub, Belousova will report directly to Daydream’s founder and CEO, Julie Bornstein, and spearhead the company’s technical vision in anticipation of its much-awaited public launch this spring. In her role as CTO, Belousova will concentrate on enhancing search and personalization functionalities while also forging strategic collaborations with foundational model providers. A primary focus is the development of Daydream’s AI-enhanced autonomous platform.

Gather AI

Pittsburgh-based inventory intelligence provider Gather AI has appointed Christopher Visnic as head of sales and Li Wu as head of finance. Visnic has spearheaded the commercial expansion of early-stage firms, particularly in machine learning automation and computer-aided engineering software. For instance, at Seegrid Corporation, revenue soared from approximately $5 million to over $70 million with profitability achieved in five years. Li is a skilled finance executive with more than a decade of experience guiding and growing technology startups in the payments, B2B SaaS, and AI domains.

RG Barry Brands (RGB)

The multibrand management platform RGB has appointed Justine Suh as president of Dearfoams. Suh will influence and drive the brand’s strategic trajectory, overseeing product merchandising, design, strategy and planning, sales, and marketing. She will additionally manage the brand’s licensing functions. Most recently, Suh held the position of general manager at Carter’s North America Retail and served previously as the chief merchandising officer at Cole Haan.