Express has appointed Malissa Akay to the role of EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer and Sara Tervo as EVP and Chief Marketing Officer. Both executives will join Express on Sept. 9 and report directly to CEO Tim Baxter.
Akay will oversee women’s and men’s design and merchandising and head up the product and merchandising strategy across Express, Express Factory Outlet stores and express.com. She previously served as EVP and General Merchandise Manager at Lane Bryant and also has worked at Ralph Lauren and DFS Group.
Tervo will spearhead the retailer’s marketing and creative services, with responsibility for brand strategy and positioning, customer insights and loyalty. She was most recently EVP of Marketing at Victoria’s Secret and also spent eight years in senior leadership roles at PINK.
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Express has been rebuilding its leadership team after CEO David Kornberg departed in January. Baxter stepped into the role in April and he has been working to turn around the retailer’s fortunes. Express reported a 6% sales decline alongside a 7% same-store sales drop in Q1 2019, but Baxter expects performance to improve as the company cuts promotion levels and implements new initiatives.
