DHR International Recruits Chief Supply Chain Officer for Michaels Companies

January 3, 2019 – DHR International recently placed Mike West as the new chief supply chain officer at the Michaels Companies. Managing partners Marcey Rubin Stamas and Frank Spencer led the assignment.

Mr. West most recently served as senior vice president of supply chain field operations at Lowe’s. In that role, he led operations for the company’s regional and flatbed distribution centers, millwork facilities and bulk distribution centers. He joined Lowe’s from Neiman Marcus, where he served on the company’s leadership team as senior vice president, supply chain. In that capacity, he led distribution, transportation and fulfillment for all the brands in the Neiman Marcus Group.

Earlier in his career, Mr. West was senior vice president, global logistics and distribution at ANN Inc. He also spent 12 years with Target Corp., where he held various leadership positions, including vice president, global logistics.

The Michaels Companies is North America’s largest specialty provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral, wall décor and seasonal merchandise for makers and do-it-yourself home decorators. The company owns and operates more than 1,200 stores in 49 states and Canada under the brands Michaels, Aaron Brothers and Pat Catan’s.

Veteran Consultants

Consultants in DHR’s consumer practice group have extensive experience providing executive search and leadership solutions to a variety of consumer organizations. Clients range from small, emerging and mid-sized companies to leading Fortune 500 multinational consumer goods and services organizations.

Ms. Rubin Stamas is managing partner of DHR’s Chicago headquarters office, and is a one of the leaders of the retail/consumer practice. She also spearheads DHR’s beauty and personal care client relationship. Ms. Rubin Stamas joined DHR in 1998. With more than 25 years in executive search, she has completed numerous assignments for world-class global consumer brands across all areas of functional leadership. Her clients have included Babeth’s Feast, Columbia Sportswear, Danone, Disney, Envy Medical, Fast Retailing, Forever 21, Living Proof, Lucky Brand, Mars Inc., Michaels Stores, NYX Cosmetics, KT Tape, PANDORA Jewelry, PCA Skin, Planet Fitness, Raley’s, Ross Stores, Sea World, Steak ‘n Shake, ULTA and WellHaven Pet Health.

Mr. Spencer serves as managing partner of the firm’s global retail/consumer practice. In addition to being one of the top three revenue producers in the history of the firm, he is a member of the DHR board, senior operating committee and DHR Hall of Fame. He was an equity partner in the company for over 10 years. Mr. Spencer joined DHR in 1997 as executive vice president to lead its expansion into the New York market. His clients represent a broad spectrum of retail, wholesale and consumer products organizations ranging from Fortune 100 companies to venture backed start-ups. Mr. Spencer has completed assignments for all C-level positions as well as functional heads of finance, marketing, digital, product design, human resources, supply chain, real estate, corporate and field operations, and technology.

New Officer Level Roles

A handful of new C-suite titles have been cropping up at businesses around the globe, say leading search consultants. A recent report by Odgers Berndtson found that executives climbing the corporate ladder are in hot pursuit of titles that include the words “chief” and “officer.” Among them: chief happiness officer, chief privacy officer, chief people officer, chief digital officer, chief knowledge officer, chief customer officer, chief luminary officer, chief innovation officer and chief observance officer.

Kodak and Dell a few years ago appointed chief listeners; Facebook has chief privacy officers; Microsoft has a chief people officer; Coca-Cola has a chief quality and product integrity officer. Steve Jobs called himself chief know-all.

Here is an overview of unique officer-level positions being filled by leading recruitment firms from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

Renovata, a global executive search firm with offices in London, New York, Berlin and Stockholm, has placed Vikas Seth as chief product officer of IDnow in Munich. Since 2008, he has worked exclusively at the director, product management level for a raft of first-class technology businesses including RSA, AVG Technologies and Avira. 

The Onstott Group placed Christina Van Houten as chief strategy officer of Mimecast Limited. Managing director Scott Tucker led the assignment. Ms. Van Houten is charged with driving corporate development, product management and market strategy as part of building out Mimecast’s email security, archive and cyber resilience cloud platform.

Beverly Hills, CA-based executive recruitment firm Ventura Partners has placed Courtney Gruber as the new chief retail officer for drybar, a blowout hair salon chain. Ventura founder and partner Julie Ford led the search. The chief retail officer role, more commonly known as vice president of retail, encompasses running all retail operations.

Executive search firm McCormack+Kristel has been retained by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to lead in its search for a chief program officer. Managing partner Joseph McCormack and partner Michelle Kristel are leading the assignment. LAHSA is committed to ending homelessness through leadership, advocacy, and management of program funding.

Freehold, NJ-based Prodigy Sports, a nationwide leader in top-level sports recruiting, has placed Gord Lang as chief growth officer with Engine Shop. Founder and chief executive officer Scott Carmichael led the search. Mr. Lang had been chief growth officer at Octagon Marketing, which he joined in 2001.

The housing group Win, formerly Women In Need, has been transforming the lives of New York City’s homeless families for more than 30 years. The organization recently enlisted executive recruitment firm Bridge Partners to find a chief program officer. Partner and co-founder Tory Clarke is leading the search along with partner Janet Albert.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media