Apparel Online India 1-15 July' 17 | Page 15

RETAIL CURRENT Retail industry veteran Toby Noiles joins Yandy.Com as CMMO Yandy.com, a leading online retailer of women’s intimates, swimwear and specialty apparel announced that Toby Noiles has joined its senior leadership team as Chief Marketing and Merchandising Officer (CMMO). Bringing more than 25 years of retail experience to Yandy, Noiles will apply her marketing acumen and deep understanding of shopper insights to drive the company’s growth through marketing, merchandising, product management, strategic customer and market development. “Toby brings tremendous talent and expertise to our team,” said Thom Brodeur-Kazanjian, CEO of Yandy.com, further stating, “Her impressive track record of driving customer-focused growth strategies and her experience in building world-class marketing and merchandising teams aligns with the strategic focus of the company moving forward. With Toby joining our C-suite, a critical benefit is bringing more of a woman’s perspective to our product assortment, merchandising strategy and market-facing voice. Toby will be ingredient to our success in building a brand and delivering a promise that resonates with our customers. We’re happy to have her.” Yandy is a retailer of sexy specialty apparel for real women. Walmart confirms deal to acquire Bonobos Decathlon to launch surfing brand Olaian French sports goods retailer Decathlon has announced to launch Olaian, its new surfing brand. Water sports is one of Decathlon’s key growth vectors, helping the sports retailer in 2016 to touch the ¤10 billion revenue mark (+12%), and the new addition will accelerate its growth further. The brand has been conceived at Decathlon’s development centre for water sports, located since 1996 in Hendaye, in the French Basque region, and will feature numerous product segments ranging from surf boards to wetsuits, swimsuits and accessories. Olaian’s products will be available from 2018. second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter of this fiscal year. The announcement comes at a time of growth and innovation in e-Commerce division of Walmart. In its most recent quarter, Walmart saw 63 per cent growth in the US e-Commerce sales. US retail biggie Walmart Stores Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Bonobos Inc., one of the leading apparel brands built on the internet, for US $ 310 million in cash. Following the acquisition, Andy Dunn, Founder and CEO of Bonobos will report to Marc Lore, President and CEO of Walmart US e-Commerce, and oversee the company’s collection of digitally- native vertical brands, which will be offered on Jet.com and possibly other Walmart brands (including Bonobos and recently-acquired ModCloth) in a variety of countries over time. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by the end of the The acquisition of Bonobos and the leadership of Dunn will create more new products for consumers and new ways to buy them. “We began Bonobos 10 years ago to give men a completely different product and shopping experience: better fitting, higher quality clothing, in new and imaginative ways. That will always remain our mission. The addition of Bonobos is part of a broader e-Commerce strategy to enhance the customer value proposition,” Dunn said. Additionally, Decathlon is planning to expand its reach in Israel, Canada and the Philippines in the current year. It forayed into Mexico, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Singapore and Slovenia market in 2016. France, however, remains the retailer’s biggest market by far with 301 stores, followed by China and Taiwan (214) and Spain (149). www.apparelresources.com | JULY 1-15, 2017 | Apparel Online India 15