Caleres adds Bruce Thorn to board

U.S. footwear company Caleres announced on Friday the appointment of Bruce Thorn to its board of directors, effectively immediately.

The St. Louis-based company looks to leverage Thorns extensive retail experience, having served in top level executive roles at several companies including LESCO, PetSmart and Tailored Brands.

Thorn currently serves as president and CEO of Big Lots. In this role, he has accelerated the company's top-line growth, increased productivity and invested for future growth. Over the past three years, he has led the growth of top-line sales by more than 17 percent and earnings per share by 35 percent, said Caleres in a press release.

“Bruce has a proven track record of success in strong retail brands and will bring that expertise to our board,” said Diane Sullivan, chairman and CEO of Caleres.

“We value skill set diversity on our board and Bruce has extensive and relevant experience across so many areas in retail that is relatable to what we do at Caleres. This combined with actively participating in the boardroom for more than two decades will be invaluable to us and our diverse portfolio of brands.”

Before Big Lots, Thorn was president and COO of Tailored Brands, the company behind menswear retailers Men's Wearhouse, Joseph A. Bank, Joseph Abboud and Moores. Prior to Tailored Brands, he served as EVP of store operations, services and supply chain at PetSmart and chief operating officer of LESCO.

Caleres operates several footwear brands under its company umbrella including Famous Footwear, Vince and Veronica Beard, among others.

Caleres adds Bruce Thorn to board

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