Vera Bradley eliminates key leadership positions

As a part of the reorganised leadership structure, Vera Bradley, Inc., has eliminated the positions of Vera Bradley brand president, chief creative officer, and chief revenue officer.

As a result, three members of the Vera Bradley brand executive team – president Daren Hull, chief creative officer Beatrice Mac Cabe, and chief revenue officer Mary Beth Trypus – have departed the organisation.

Vera Bradley realigns leadership structure

“Daren, Beatrice, and Mary Beth each have made many meaningful contributions to the fabric and culture of our company. Their influences will be with us for years to come,” said Jackie Ardrey, president and chief executive officer of the company.

“These decisions were made in order to right-size our leadership team and cost structure for the size of our business, to address the continuing challenging macro environment, and to best position us to achieve our long-term strategic plans,” Ardrey added.

The company will add a position of senior vice president of merchandising and design for Vera Bradley, with merchandising; product development; design; and merchandise, planning, and allocation reporting to that new post.

Vera Bradley to acquire remaining 25 percent stake in Pura Vida

Additionally, the company announced that Pura Vida co-presidents Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman have made the decision to leave the Company, effective January 28, 2023. Vera Bradley will acquire the remaining 25 percent interest in Pura Vida from Thall and Goodman for 10 million dollars, effective January 30, 2023.

Commenting on the development, Ardrey said: “We thank Griffin and Paul for building and growing such a wonderfully unique business and entrusting it to VRA. We remain very optimistic about the opportunities ahead for Pura Vida.”

Pura Vida’s vice president of finance, Sujay Shah, will assume day-to-day oversight of Pura Vida on an interim basis and will report directly to Ardrey. Although Thall is leaving day-to-day operations, he will continue in a consulting role to support the team with marketing and branding direction.

Alison Hiatt joins Vera Bradley as CMO

The company further said that Alison Hiatt has joined the company as chief marketing officer to oversee digital marketing, customer data, and ecommerce. The Vera Bradley brand and creative marketing, retail store, and retail brand experience teams will also report to Hiatt.

Most recently, Hiatt was chief marketing officer for Salt and Straw. Prior to Salt and Straw, Hiatt was chief marketing officer of Banfield Pet Hospitals, a division of Mars, Inc. Previously, she held marketing-related and other retail posts with REI, Starbucks, and Amazon.

Ardrey concluded saying: “It is critical to have a high-functioning, aligned executive leadership team, and this flattened and streamlined structure will help us execute better, make faster decisions, and drive success. These most recent organisational changes will produce annualised savings of over 2 million dollars, on top of the 25 million dollars of cost reductions previously identified and largely realised in fiscal 2023.”