Forever 21 Names New CEO
Winnie Park joins the retailer after her tenure at Paper Source.
Retailer Forever 21 has announced Winnie Park as its new chief executive officer.
Park joins Forever 21 from Paper Source. She was chief executive officer for six years. Park helped transform the brand from a brick-and-mortar retailer to a lifestyle with a robust digital platform spanning social, digital content, online subscriptions, and affiliate partnerships. She also led the successful sale of the brand to an affiliate of Barnes & Noble.
Ms. Park will report to Marc Miller, chief executive officer, SPARC, a full-service retail operator.
"We are thrilled to have Winnie join the Forever 21 team," says Miller. "She is an inspirational leader and team builder who brings deep omnichannel experience and a track record of successfully growing businesses with particular strengths in strategy, merchandising, marketing and branding. As CEO, Winnie will add a fresh perspective and approaches in connecting with the Forever 21 customer, which will help drive Forever 21 from its current $2B sales level to new heights of success as a leading brand in SPARC's fashion and lifestyle brand portfolio."
During her long-spanning career, Park has brought leadership, strategic vision, and omnichannel brand experience across various industries, including fashion and retail. Before Paper Source, Park held high-profile executive roles across e-commerce, global marketing and fashion merchandising, including a nine-year tenure at the Hong Kong-based international luxury retail leader DFS, a division of LVMH. At DFS, she was responsible for launching the company's first global e-commerce site for fashion, beauty, watch/jewelry, and spirits serving customers across China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S. She started at McKinsey & Company San Francisco in fashion retail and consumer digital before joining Levi Strauss and Company to lead women's merchandising for Dockers.
Park currently is on Dollar Tree's board and audit committee, a publicly-traded Fortune 500 retailer, where she focuses on omnichannel retail and is on the board for Women in Retail Leadership. She has also served as an independent board director and member of Express's compensation and governance and audit committees, where she worked closely with the new management team on their strategic turnaround with a focus on their merchandising, e-commerce and digital marketing initiatives.
"As a longtime shopper and admirer of the brand, I am honored to join Forever 21 at such a pivotal time of reinvention and reinvigoration," says Park. "I am looking forward to partnering with this exceptional leadership team to continue the transformation of this brand with a focus on the Forever 21 community, including its people, purpose and business priorities across digital and traditional retail channels."
A graduate of Princeton University, Park has a bachelor's degree from the School of Public and International Affairs with a minor in East Asian Studies and holds an MBA in Corporate Finance and Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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