Designer Brands names Doug Howe EVP, president DSW

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
May 22, 2022

Designer Brands Inc. announced on Friday the appointment of Doug Howe as president of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and executive vice president of Designer Brands. 

In his role at Designer Brands, Howe will bring continued strength and momentum across the retailer's 519 U.S. store locations and direct-to-consumer channels.

Likewise, as president of DSW, Howe will be responsible for day-to-day leadership of the company and highlighting DSW's experience and brands across direct-to-consumer channels. He will report directly to Designer Brands' CEO Roger Rawlins. 

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"Designer Brands and DSW are hyper-focused on maintaining our edge across the competitive landscape," said Rawlins. 

"I have the highest confidence in Doug's leadership to guide us in our stores and ecommerce operations to benefit our owned brands, while focusing on the athletic and fashion brands that our 28 million loyalty customers love. DSW has a bright future ahead with Doug's proven retail experience helping advance our business priorities of customers, brands and speed.”

Howe joins the company from Kohl’s where he most recently served as chief merchandising officer. Across his over 30 year career in retail, he also held leadership positions across merchandising, design, product development and planning at Qurate Retail Group, Old Navy, Walmart and May Department Stores.

"I'm privileged to join DSW as we evolve retail to the next level, with a determined focus on customers, offering the best owned and national brands and delivering products with incredible speed," said Howe. 

"DSW is more than just a place to buy shoes, it's an innovative enterprise on multiple fronts. With so much synergy fueling DSW's business plans, I'm excited to partner with all DSW associates to continue the momentum and growth for the future.”

Last month, Designer Brands shared new financial targets for the fiscal year 2026, including forecasted revenue of $4 billion in the next five years, on the back of the doubling of its owned brand sales.

Designer Brands owns and operates footwear chains DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, The Shoe Company and Shoe Warehouse.