Amazon has named Doug Herrington as the retail behemoth’s new CEO of its Worldwide Amazon Stores business, the segment formerly known as Consumer, tapping the 17-year company veteran to take on the role, according to a company blog post Tuesday (June 21) from president and CEO Andy Jassy.
Herrington joined Amazon in 2005 to build out its consumables business, then launched AmazonFresh in 2007 and became the company’s North American Consumer business leader in 2015.
“He is a builder of great teams and brings substantial retail, grocery, demand generation, product development, and Amazon experience to bear,” Jassy wrote in his letter. “He’s also a terrific inventor for customers, thinks big, has thoughtful vision around how category management and ops can work well together, is a unifier, is highly curious, and an avid learner.
“I think Doug will do great things for customers and employees alike, and I look forward to working with him in this leadership role.”
In addition, John Felton will take over the company’s operations organization, continuing an almost 18-year run with Amazon that includes 12 years in retail and operations finance leadership roles. He also spent about a year as vice president of global customer fulfillment and three years leading the Global Delivery Services group, which includes global import/export, Amazon Logistics and last-mile delivery services.
“This is a very strong and experienced leadership team. I remain very optimistic about our Stores business and believe we’re still in the early days of what’s possible,” Jassy wrote.
Last week, multiple news reports indicated Amazon is planning to open a second Amazon Style brick-and-mortar clothing store, this time at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Related: Amazon to Open 2nd Clothing Store in Ohio
So far, details are limited about the size of the store or when it will open, but Columbus Business First reported that the company expects to hire hundreds of full-time and part-time workers for the store, including customer service, checkout and management positions.
The news comes three weeks after Amazon launched its first Style store in Glendale, California, where shoppers can find what to wear with the help of machine learning. The store also lets consumers who use the Amazon app try out their selections in-store, with the app notifying them when fitting rooms become available.