Troy, MI, June 25--Kmart Holding Corp. announced today the appointment of Robert Norton as Senior Vice President, Stores, Dene Rogers as Senior Vice President, Store Operations, and David Whipple as Senior Vice President, Associate Resources.
Julian Day, Kmart's Chief Executive Officer said, "I have asked these three talented executives to focus their considerable abilities on improving the customer service in our stores. The goal is to deliver a better store experience for our customers while continuing to enhance the profitability of our operations."
Robert Norton, SVP, Stores, will have overall responsibility for Kmart's stores, including the field and headquarters' store support organizations. Prior to joining Kmart, Norton served as the Chairman and CEO of FTD Inc. Norton joined FTD as President and CEO in January 1997. Under his strong and owner-oriented leadership, the company more than doubled its profitability and sales. Before leading FTD, Norton held senior positions at Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. and The Sherwin-Williams Company.
Dene Rogers, SVP, Store Operations, will have responsibility for the store support organization at headquarters and will drive multi-functional operational improvement initiatives across the store base. Rogers, who will report to Norton, has worked in a variety of capacities at Kmart since joining in October 2003. Before joining Kmart, Rogers was SVP, Business Development at General Electric Capital Corporation, and SVP, Planning, New Products and Development at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
David Whipple, SVP, Associate Resources, is now the senior human resource executive at the Company, whose immediate focus is developing Kmart's store associate population. Whipple joins Kmart after nine years at two U.S. subsidiaries of Netherlands-based Ahold, the world's third-largest food retailer. He served in several executive human resource positions at U.S. Foodservice and at Tops Markets, Inc.
Julian Day stated, "We will continue to improve our customer experience and attract, retain, and develop the best associates and store managers in mass market retail. Together, these executives bring a wealth of retail experience, and more importantly, a winning culture and attitude to our Company. With these additions to our leadership team, we expect to accelerate our rate of improvement and elevate our achievement goals."
