Signet Jewelers announces new senior leadership appointments

Signet Jewelers Limited, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewellery, which includes H. Samuel and Ernest Jones, has announced new senior leadership appointments, including a new president of Kay Jewelers and Peoples Jewellers.

In a statement, Signet Jewelers named Yulie Yoakum as president of Kay Jewelers and Peoples Jewellers, Stacee Johnson-Williams as chief merchandise operations and sourcing officer and Lisa Laich as chief marketing officer.

Yoakum has more than 30 years of experience in the jewellery industry and was previously president and chief brand merchant officer at Helzberg Diamonds, leading product development, sourcing, quality assurance, distribution and digital transformation, and will bring her “entrepreneurial mindset and diamond industry expertise to the leadership of Signet’s brands”.

Johnson-Williams, most recently interim president of Kay Jewelers and Peoples Jewellers, will now lead the central sourcing and core merchandising team. In this new role, she will further expand cross-brand sourcing capabilities and have responsibility for the assortment of core categories to fully leverage scale in buying.

Laich, who most recently oversaw digital and brand marketing for Crocs and HeyDude, brings more than two decades of experience in elevating brands to Signet and will collaborate with the consumer brands to develop creative content and storytelling “to drive consideration and loyalty while delivering the benefits of scale in marketing”.

J.K. Symancyk, chief executive officer at Signet, said: “Julie, Stacee and Lisa are experienced and highly accomplished industry leaders who believe in Signet’s purpose of Inspiring Love and will accelerate our Grow Brand Love strategy.

“Julie brings over 30 years of experience in the jewellery and apparel industries, with a strong track record of sales growth. Stacee’s decade of leadership at Signet will enable her to quickly advance our core merchandising and leverage scale to drive top-line growth in key categories. And Lisa’s record of marketing excellence and commercial growth across leading retail brands complements the strengths of our team.”

Signet operates approximately 2,600 stores primarily under the name brands of Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared, Banter by Piercing Pagoda, Diamonds Direct, Blue Nile, James Allen, Rocksbox, Peoples Jewellers, H. Samuel, and Ernest Jones.