Rue21 adds three new executives

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Jun 21, 2019

Teen fast-fashion retailer Rue21 has named three new additions to its leadership team, including Brian Rogers as senior vice president and chief human resources officer; Robert Brous as vice president of e-commerce and digital, and Michael Cingolani as vice president of ‘guys’ merchandising, the company’s teen men’s category.

Rogers will now be responsible for directing all of the people functions of the company. He will report to Michael Appel, Rue21’s CEO. Rogers brings over 30 years of human resources leadership experience to the role, most recently serving as senior vice president, human resources corporate at Ascena Retail Group.

He also served as senior vice president, talent acquisition and senior vice president and chief human resources officer of the Justice Tween Brands division. Prior to Ascena, Rogers served as vice president, international human resources with L Brands, and as a human resources director at Nike.

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In his new role, Brous will also report to Appel, and will be responsible for leading a team focused on managing all digital and e-commerce growth initiatives including the online marketing, planning, operations, implementation, and management of Rue21's e-commerce business channel. Brous joins Rue21 from Spencer Gifts' Spirit Halloween, where he was senior director of e-commerce for four years. He also served as vice president, e-commerce and marketing at EmpireCovers.  

Cingolani will be responsible for developing and implementing merchandise strategy for all merchandise categories within the company's 'guys' category. He will report to Karen Pinney, Rue21's senior vice president and chief merchandising officer. Cingolani joins Rue21 from Tillys, where he served as division merchandising manager for men's and boys apparel. Prior to Tillys, he was a senior buyer for apparel, footwear and accessories for CCS/Foot Locker and merchandise manager, men's at Lands' End.  

"One of our key initiatives in rebuilding Rue21 has been to upgrade and strengthen our management team throughout the entire organization both at headquarters and in the field,” said Appel. “With the addition of highly- skilled and experienced leaders...we continue our strategy to build a world-class management group as we build the Rue21 franchise."