Designer Brands Inc. Names Laura Denk as President of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Designer Brands Inc. (NYSE: DBI) (the “Company” and “Designer Brands”), one of the world’s largest designers, producers, and retailers of footwear and accessories, today announced that Laura Denk has been named President of DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse (“DSW”) and Executive Vice President of Designer Brands, with her appointment to be effective as of July 24, 2023.

As President of DSW, Denk will be responsible for leading DSW’s nearly 500 U.S. store locations and e-commerce channel, DSW.com, furthering the Company’s ongoing strategy of delivering compelling brands and exceptional experiences across all customer touchpoints. Her responsibilities will include day-to-day leadership of DSW, in addition to helping to further elevate Designer Brands’ Owned Brands and top National Brands within the retailer’s differentiated customer offering. Denk will report directly to Designer Brands’ Chief Executive Officer, Doug Howe.

“I am thrilled to be joining DSW at such an exciting time in DSW’s journey to becoming a brand builder, while leveraging its strong footprint of stores and omni-channel platform,” said Denk. “The opportunity to partner with the DSW team to transform and reimagine the customer experience, especially by shining a light on Designer Brands’ unique Owned Brands within DSW will help us build value for our customers and our shareholders.  I am continually impressed by the breadth of assortment and must-have brands, coupled with a convenient and easy shopping experience, and I look forward to jumping right into the business.”

Howe said, “I am confident in Laura’s ability to lead the DSW organization forward in ways that will further elevate and grow the profile of our Owned Brands, while ensuring we maintain our critical, core relationships with our top National Brands within our retail footprint. Our 30 million loyalty customers can expect an exciting future ahead for DSW, with Laura’s expertise driving us to the next phase of growth, while maintaining our position as a leader in the footwear space.”

Denk brings to the Company an extensive background in merchandising and an affinity for building strong vendor partnerships, along with significant experience in augmenting customer experiences and elevating private brands. She most recently served as Chief Merchandising Officer and Executive Vice President at Michaels Stores, Inc. (“Michaels”). Prior to that, she was Michaels’ General Merchandise Manager. She has also held leadership positions at Claire’s Stores, Inc. and Macy’s, Inc. Denk is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington, with a Bachelor’s Degree from the Kelley School of Business.

About Designer Brands
Designer Brands is one of the world’s largest designers, producers and retailers of the most recognizable footwear brands and accessories, transforming and defining the footwear industry through a mission of inspiring self-expression. With a diversified, world-class portfolio of coveted brands, including Keds, Lucky Brand, Crown Vintage, Vince Camuto, Topo Athletic, Jessica Simpson, Le Tigre and others, Designer Brands designs and produces on-trend footwear and accessories for all of life’s occasions delivered to the consumer through a robust direct-to-consumer omni-channel infrastructure and powerful national wholesale distribution. Powered by a billion-dollar digital commerce business across multiple domains and nearly 640 DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse and The Shoe Company stores in North America, Designer Brands delivers current, in-line footwear and accessories from the largest national brands in the industry and holds leading market share positions in key product categories across Women’s, Men’s and Kids’. Designer Brands also distributes its brands internationally through select wholesale and distributor relationships while also leveraging design and sourcing expertise to build private label product for national retailers. Designer Brands is committed to being a difference maker in the world, taking steps forward to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the footwear industry and supporting a global community and the health of the planet by donating more than seven million pairs of shoes to the global non-profit Soles4Souls. To learn more, visit www.designerbrands.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Certain statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking words such as “outlook,” “could,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “approximately,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “targets,” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words. These statements are based on the Company’s current views and expectations and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: uncertain general economic conditions, including inflationary pressures and rising interest rates, and the related impacts to consumer discretionary spending, as well as supply chain disruptions and pressures; risks and uncertainties related to the ongoing coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, any future COVID-19 resurgence, and any other adverse public health developments; our ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends, consumer preferences and changing customer expectations; our ability to maintain strong relationships with our vendors, manufacturers, licensors, and retailer customers; risks related to losses or disruptions associated with our distribution systems, including our distribution centers and stores, whether as a result of reliance on third-party providers, or otherwise; our ability to manage our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) transition, retain our existing management team, and continue to attract qualified new personnel; risks related to cyber security threats and privacy or data security breaches or the potential loss or disruption of our information technology (“IT”) systems; risks related to the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system software solution and other IT systems; our reliance on our loyalty programs and marketing to drive traffic, sales, and customer loyalty; our ability to protect our reputation and to maintain the brands we license; our competitiveness with respect to style, price, brand availability, and customer service; risks related to our international operations, including international trade, our reliance on foreign sources for merchandise, exposure to political, economic, operational, compliance and other risks, and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; our ability to comply with privacy laws and regulations, as well as other legal obligations; domestic and global political and social conditions, global pandemics, and the potential impact of geopolitical turmoil or conflict; risks associated with climate change and other corporate responsibility issues and uncertainties related to future legislation, regulatory reform, policy changes, or interpretive guidance on existing legislation. Risks and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements are described in the Company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K or other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the time when made. Except as may be required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements included in this press release to reflect any future events or circumstances.

For further information:
Investor Relations: Edelman Smithfield for Designer Brands, [email protected]
Media: [email protected]

SOURCE Designer Brands Inc.